Draco Malfoy, Seeker Of Souls
by Lady Grizabella
Summary: Draco is back and this time he's looking for both Ginny and her Soul. But will Ginny be the same after he finds her? What is Harry and Draco's final destiny and why have they always been tied together? Book 3 in the Draco's Desires series. FINISHED!
1. Dreams

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http://www.fanfiction.net/index.fic?action=story-readReview&storyid=338161

Note: Hi everyone, and welcome to "Draco Malfoy, Seeker Of Souls"! This is book three in the "Draco's Desires" series and it's a direct continuation from the last book, "Draco Malfoy Promises To Be A Good Boy This Year". I will warn everyone that this will most likely be hard to understand if you don't read the afore mentioned book, but the books are fairly fast reads and enjoyed by most, so I recommend reading the others. :)

In this part, Draco must try to rescue Ginny and her Soul from the Black School of Spain, with the help of Professor Snape and the Dream Team. But will the headmaster Mephistopheles ever let them get away with it? Find out in this story! I bring you…

Draco Malfoy, Seeker Of Souls

Chapter One

Dreams

**~~~~~**

I was flying on my Firebolt II high above the ground. The grass was green but the sky was dark. There was another presence with me, although it was a bit fuzzy. I knew that it was my child, Nathaniel, and that he was sitting in front of me on the broom, his raven black hair whipping in the wind. He was bigger than usual and he clung to my pajama top. 'Mama!' he cried. 'We have to find Mama!' he said. Odd. He was only a year old and couldn't talk that much. I thought nothing of it then.

In the sky ahead of us a golden ball appeared. It was huge and it had wings. 'There is the Snitch,' I said. I sped up and reached out both hands to grasp the huge ball of golden light. As my hands clasped around the golden essence it began to sing with Ginny's voice. It had become a living, breathing Soul. I pulled it to my chest and held tightly onto it. 

'The Soul. The Soul,' chanted Nathaniel. 

We were suddenly on the ground and Ginny was before us, glowing gold like the Snitch/Soul had. Nathaniel began to cry with joy and ran from me towards Ginny. 'Mama! Mama!'

Tears sprang to my eyes and I began to run too to grab her and keep her safe always. Nathaniel reached her first and she scooped him up, laughing and crying. She looked at me and her smile turned evil. 'Forget the Soul of the lost, Seeker.' She bared her teeth at me and turned into Tom Riddle. 'The boy is mine,' said Tom. 'Ginny is mine.'

I screamed and the ball of light I was still clutching shattered into a million pieces. Tom's face distorted and became a devil's head with sharp little horns and an evil grin. And it had Ginny's body. 'Take not the Soul of the lost, Seeker.' It then looked as if it were going to eat Nathaniel. It licked its lips.

I screamed. I covered my ears, shut my eyes tightly, and screamed as loud as I could. I thought my throat was going to burst………….

Hands shook me gently. "Draco."

I screamed more, not opening my eyes.

Arms gathered me up and held me close. "Draco, wake up, boy!"

My eyes shot open and I clutched onto the nightclothes of the person who held me. "He ate Nattie! HE ATE NATTIE!" I thrashed in my damp, twisted sheets.

"Shhhh…it was a dream. Nathaniel is in his bassinet with a thumb in his mouth." My gaurdian smiled.

I looked up at him wildly. "Severus…he's killed Ginny. Ginny's dead! I want Harry. Please, find me Harry!"

Professor Snape managed to untwist the dark green sheets from around my body and pulled off my sweat soaked pajama top so I could cool down in the chilled air. "It was a dream. Ginny is in the Black School in Spain, but we'll deal with that soon. Nathaniel is sleeping and Harry is too in the Gryffindor tower."

"And where is Tom? He was in the dream too. But he was evil again."

Snape sighed. "Riddle is down in the deepest dungeon, locked away. He has been very calm and quiet since I put him there. He's fine too."

I relaxed a bit. "Severus, we just have to get Ginny out of that school. I have to find her Soul. I am the Seeker of Souls. The devil told me so."

Snape rubbed his sleepy eyes. "You have to sleep. You haven't had a full nights sleep in two weeks. When you don't sleep you fall asleep in class and then the other teachers take points away from Slytherin. Then the others get mad at you."

This was true. Professor Snape and I were trying to keep up the illusion that everything was fine. Two weeks before, Professor Snape had retrieved us from the Black School of Spain, a school for black arts. Harry, Hermione, Ron, Nathaniel and I were all fine and healthy, but we had lost Ginny. Her Soul had been stolen by the headmaster, Mephistopheles. Snape kept promising we would get her back as soon as we could, but in the meantime we had to pretend that everything was fine. As far as anyone at Hogwarts knew, Ginny was somewhere in the hospital wing with a treatable illness. She was, however, quite contagious so no one could see her for some time. Not even her parents knew where she really was. They were told about the illness as well and believed the story. They were worried about their daughter, but believed she would soon be well. 

Snape and I hated lying to them, but in order for Snape and I to get Ginny out of the Black School, we needed to do it ourselves. We couldn't have Ministry of Magic personnel trying to break in. If anyone could get Ginny back it would be Severus Snape. 

So I made the masquerade of going to class like everything was fine and kept up with the story that Ginny was sick, as did Harry, Ron, Hermione, Snape, Professor Dumbledore, and Madam Pomfrey, the nurse, who had instructions to keep away visitors for the nonexistent Ginny. No one else knew what had really happened minus the knowledge that we had been once again taken hostage by Voldemort. But otherwise, we were all fine and Voldemort had been momentarily defeated again. I think the students were getting rather bored with the whole ordeal, since Harry had faced Voldemort every year of his school career and it was nothing special. Voldemort had indeed been defeated, so to speak, but he was now in the form of Tom Riddle and locked away in our dungeon. He was making an effort to change from evil to good, but no one trusted him fully as of yet. And my dreams proved it.

I held my head in my hands, reliving the whole thing. "I want it to go away. I can't stop the dreams. I'll never sleep again."

Snape pushed me over onto my bed again and lifted a steaming goblet. "I want you to drink this. It will help you sleep without dreams. You have to be rested for classes tomorrow. I won't let you fall anymore behind in your studies or you'll have to redo your fifth year."

I shook my head, trying to push the goblet away. "No, I won't take it! You can't make me!"

He frowned at me. "Listen, Draco, I am the Potions Master and your current guardian. When I tell you to take a potion, you must do it. I can't help you feel better if you won't listen to me."

I sniffled and turned my head away. He sighed and pushed a lock of white-blond hair out of my eyes. "I'm sorry, Draco. I just want you to sleep. You must sleep."

I nodded and gulped down the potion. It tasted like hot chocolate and warmed up my insides pleasantly. I immediately felt very tired and very stupid. "I'm so tired, Dad."

He nodded and pulled the quilt up over my pale body. "Get some sleep. Tomorrow is another day."

I closed my eyes and my head began to spin. I was the Seeker of Souls and tomorrow was another day. Another day closer to finding Ginny's Soul.

**~~~~~**


	2. Jailbreak

Draco Malfoy, Seeker Of Souls

Chapter Two

Jailbreak

**~~~~~**

Late the next night I wrapped Harry's invisibility cloak around my shoulders and sneaked out of Snape's room where I had taken up residency. He was sound asleep in bed, his arm resting over his face, so he didn't hear a thing. I shut the door as silently as I could and headed down towards the dungeons. I was too afraid to sleep. I couldn't stand the dreams any longer. I felt the need to act, rather than sit around waiting for Snape to get the chance to rescue Ginny. After all, getting Ginny out of the Blackschool was one thing…getting her Soul back was another.

It grew steadily colder as I walked down into the depths of the dungeon. I wondered how I had ever lived there before I fell out with the Slytherins. Snape's room was in the lower part of the castle, but the deepest dungeons were freezing and dripping wet. A big glob of wetness landed on my head and I made a gurgled cry. "Yuck!" Part of me wished that Harry and maybe Hermione was with me, but the mission I was on was potentially dangerous and could possibly get me in trouble. I didn't care much. Ginny was everything. But I didn't want to involve the others this time. They had fallen behind enough as it was.

I advanced towards the line of locked dungeon doors deep under the school. "Tom?" I whispered. "Which one are you in?" I had been forbidden to go down and visit Tom Riddle since he had arrived at Hogwarts.

"Draco, is that you?" His voice was sleepy. I could hear bedsprings creak.

I ran to cell that held his voice and peered in, pulling off the cloak. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would have been. There was a four poster bed like we had in the dorms and a chest of drawers, a table and chair, plus another door that I figured led to the bathroom. It was really quite nice. "Wow. It's not bad down here."

Tom pulled a robe on over his bare chest and crouched down by the fire. The cell actually had a comfy fireplace! He warmed his hands near the flames. "It's nice to see you, Draco. But Severus will be a bit shirty if he finds you down here." 

I shrugged. "I know what I'm doing."

Tom raised an eyebrow and stood. "Do you?"

I gave him a lofty look. "Yes, I do."

He grinned at me. "So what is the plan? What is being done to help Ginny? Where are the others? No one ever tells me anything down here."

I rested my hands on the cell bars. "The others are asleep upstairs in the Gryffindor tower. I don't want to get them involved. They're going to classes, but they're not happy. Their faces are drawn, especially Ron's. I think they have nightmares just like I do. We're all going to classes to try to keep up, but I can't concentrate. Something has to give and I need your help."

He gave me a surprised look. "My help? It's all my fault that Ginny was taken away in the first place. How can I help?"

My eyes lit up. "You can come with me to the Chamber of Secrets."

Tom's eyes popped a bit. "What?"

"Oh, not for evil purposes! I need to contact someone and the only way to do it is down in the Chamber."

"You're crazy!"

"Please!" I banged on the bars once. "You have to help me!"

He hugged himself and let his dark bangs flop into his eyes. "And what am I supposed to do with no powers?"

I glared. "Like you said, you got us into this. You'll help me get us out! You're the Heir to Slytherin, aren't you? You can help me!"

He turned his head to the side and that innocent profile of his was illuminated by the firelight. "I don't know what you want to do, but whatever it is, I'll do it."

I smiled. "I knew you'd help! Let me get you out of here. Just for the night…is that alright?"

"Yes. I actually like it in here. I feel safe. I won't fight coming back."

I pulled out my wand and held it to the lock. "You won't be in here for long. Nothing to worry about." The lock popped open at my command and I stepped inside. "Get dressed and let's go."

Tom anxiously pulled on jeans and a button-down shirt. "We're going tonight? Now?" He stifled a yawn. 

"Come on, Tom! Where's your sense of adventure?" I grabbed onto his hand and pulled him out of the room. I felt a sudden rush of joy at the prospect of doing something to help Ginny and I pulled him down the hall at lightning speed. We must have been a sight - me, a painfully small kid dragging Tom, a lanky handsome youth. At least that's how we looked in my mind's eye. "Mr. Thomas Riddle, we are on the hot pursuit to finding Ginny's beautiful Soul!"

Tom just rolled his eyes and let me pull him in the direction of the girl's bathroom. We were going back! Only this time, the Heir to Slytherin was on my side. 

**~~~~~**

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Note: Hi everyone! Sorry it's been so long since I wrote more. I've been wickedly busy lately and haven't written anything in about a month. But it shouldn't take so long now. Thanks for your patience!

Next Chapter: What is Draco's idea in the Chamber of Secrets? Can anything good come out of that place? We'll see. 


	3. Help From Salazar Slytherin

Draco Malfoy, Seeker Of Souls

Chapter Three

Help From Salazar Slytherin

**~~~~~**

Tom and I crept along under the invisibility cloak towards the girl's bathroom that was continuously out of order. I didn't figure any female pupils would be lurking around, but in Hogwarts you couldn't know for sure. I half expected Harry and Company to be out for a nighttime jaunt. They had gotten in trouble multiple times for doing just that.

Once we reached the bathroom I pushed the door open and whispered to Tom, "Do you remember this?"

He nodded. "Well."

We were suddenly accosted by Moaning Myrtle, the ghost who haunted the bathroom where the Chamber of Secrets was hidden. She couldn't see us under the cloak, but she knew we were there. She sniffled and dripped toilet water on our covered heads. "Who is it? Don't keep hiding from me. I know you're there! I can hear you breathing!" At this point she burst into tears. "You think you can all sneak around in here and laugh at me, just because I'm _dead_! Well, it's horribly cruel indeed!" She snuffled into the transparent sleeve of her robe. 

Tom shuddered. "She's the same as she was the day my Basilisk killed her!" 

I elbowed him. "Shut up!" I stepped out from under the cloak.

Myrtle jumped back (as well as she could while floating in mid-air). "It's you! Are you a ghost too, now?"

I gave her a superior grin. "I don't need to be a ghost to be invisible. I'm magical!" 

She quirked an eyebrow at me. "I don't think you're so wonderful." She flicked a drop of water at me.

"Dry up, Myrtle. I'm going down to the Chamber now. Go back to your toilet like a good little girl."

She flew through the air to sit directly in front of the movable sink, which had been repaired since I blew it to smithereens earlier that year. "If you go down there I'll tell Harry Potter! He'll stop you!"

I laughed. "We're friends now. I'm sure he'd join me." I sneered and slashed my hand right through her. Needless to say, she moved. As for Harry going down to the Chamber again, I sounded more sure of myself than I felt. It would be better if Harry never knew. 

Meanwhile, I heard a distinctive hiss next to me. I jumped. I had forgotten that Tom was a parseltongue. The sink obeyed his command and it slid out of sight, exposing the pipeway down to my old hideout. I crawled in and was soon sliding down over the slippery metal. The cloak fell off of Tom and the two of us yelled and whooped the whole way down until we bounced onto the pillows that Ginny and I had put there the year before to cushion the fall. 

Once we were up and walking, I began to ponder my stupidity of coming down here with the Heir to Slytherin himself. I looked at him nervously. "Say Tom…I'm not going to be corrupted down here, am I?"

He glanced at me, a slightly gleeful expression on his handsome face. "You mean the pool? Don't be afraid, little one…it's lost all its magic by now. Even though it was awfully funny to see you and Ginny hop right in the water in your skivvies!"

I tried to hide a smile. It had been fun, even if it was twisted. 

**~~~~~**

Soon enough, we were in the main part of the Chamber, staring up at the huge statue of Salazar Slytherin. I pulled out my wand and handed it to Tom. "Go on…wake him up, will you?"

He gave me a funny look. "That's why you dragged me down here? To wake up a statue?"

I nearly stamped my foot in irritation. "I know you can do it! He's alive, I tell you! He was alive when Ginny and I were down here. His eyes glowed green. Only you can wake him up!"

Tom just looked at me like I was mad. "That was me watching through the statue, using its eyes with my declining magic. That's how I could see you and control you. The statue itself was never alive."

I was disappointed and feeling dumb. "Oh." 

Tom shifted awkwardly and patted me on the back gingerly. "Well, don't be such a prat. Maybe you can wake him up. There's not much I can do with this little wand of yours." He handed it back to me. "My power is still pretty spent. But this place is generally evil. Maybe you could bring him to life. You have Slytherin blood in you too." 

I cradled my wand. "I have to try." I kneeled down in front of the statue and closed my eyes. I opened one of them to see what Tom was doing. He was standing there, gawking at me. "Humor me, will you?"

He shrugged and kneeled down beside me. "I'm game." 

I closed my eyes firmly again and concentrated with all my might. "Oh, great Slytherin whose blood courses through our veins. We ask your help to find your Heir Virginia Weasley. I, Draco Lucius Malfoy, beg your assistance."

"You're dreadfully amusing, little fellow…" Tom was saying, but his voice faded out. My eyes popped open, but I wasn't sitting in front of the statue and Tom wasn't beside me. Instead, he was sitting high above me on a throne in the middle of a round stone room. There were bright balls of golden light swirling around the ceiling and each one was humming with life. My mouth dropped open and I gazed up at them. "Souls…" I breathed.

"They are indeed Souls, Seeker. Which one do you come to claim?"

I jerked my head around to look at Tom. He was floating an inch or two off the throne and he had a small white form in his arms with red hair swirling as if it had a life of its own. It was Ginny. I reached out my arms instinctively. Tom smiled and his eyes glowed green. "I am Salazar Slytherin. Why have you awakened me, Seeker?" 

I moved towards him and I found I was floating as well. "Ginny Weasley's, Master. It's her Soul we have come for." I gestured towards her. 

"Ah, but she is sleeping and is not ready to awake yet. You must find her first. Travel to Spain and retrieve her body. Then you may come back for more instructions. You must find the Hall of Lost Souls, but you can not take what you seek without a body to fill." Slytherin blinked slowly and drifted off the throne. He held Ginny's bare body in one arm and held out a large golden key with the other. It was at least as large as my hand and glittered gloriously in the white light. "Travel to Spain, Seeker. You must have the body. The time is now. Her Soul grows weary."

I reached out and took the sparkling golden key from Slytherin as a giant golden Soul sunk out of the sky right over my head. I reached for it, but as my fingers grasped it it grew little wings and flew away. "Come back!" I mouthed silently as I fell backwards into nothing.

**~~~~~**

I opened my eyes and found myself staring up at the darkness that was the ceiling of the Chamber of Secrets. I was lying on my back, drenched in sweat. Tom was trying to pull me up to a sitting position. "Are you alright? Oh, Draco, did you see what I saw?" His eyes were glittering. "There was this room full of light…gold balls! And I was Salazar Slytherin and words came out of my mouth that I couldn't control!" He was obviously delighted.

"You mean, you were there too?" I raised my hands with a jerk. There was no key. Had I lost it? Where had it gone?

"Oh yes, I saw what you did. I handed you a golden key and I was holding Ginny. I can still feel her body in my hands." His arms made a cradling motion and he sighed. "I don't know how you did it, Draco, but it was purely amazing. I'm not even convinced that Voldemort could have pulled magic like that out of a statue."

I allowed Tom to pull me to my feet. It was all so puzzling and so maddening. "Do you think we actually went anywhere?"

Tom hugged himself and looked up at the statue before he started walking towards the exit. "I doubt it. I think it was a vision." He looked beautifully tortured in the dim torchlight. He was such a mystic.

As for me, I had no idea what it was, but it gave me a glimmer of hope. I needed to find that golden room, but first I needed to pay a visit to the Black School with Snape's help. But before anything I decided that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley needed to know what was going on. I felt dreadful having Snape and I lying to them about what was going on. It was against Dumbledore's better judgement to keep it a secret from her parents, but the Ministry would have possibly spoiled everything. Even so, I thought it was time that Ginny's parents knew. It was with this plan in mind that I left the Chamber of Secrets with new resolve. 

**~~~~~**


	4. Draco Calls A Conference

Draco Malfoy, Seeker Of Souls

Chapter Four

Draco Calls A Conference

**~~~~~**

The very next day, I sat in my best robes with Snape and Dumbledore in his office. Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, his eyes smiling at the two of us. "So you want an audience with the Weasley's, as you call it?"

I nodded. "Yes, Sir. I think they have to know where Ginny really is. It's all very well for the students to think she's sick, but her own parents should know the truth. It's only fair, since we're going on a very dangerous mission soon." I grasped Snape's hand. "Please, Severus…I don't think Mr. Weasley would tell the Ministry if we asked him not to. Not if he knew his daughter would be in danger if he did. Maybe he could even help somehow."

Dumbledore gazed hard at Snape over his spectacles. "That has been my feeling since the start, although I did give you permission to handle things as you saw fit. You are the one with experience in the Black School of Spain."

"Unfortunately…" Snape muttered, but he looked at Dumbledore. "If you're sure, Professor, that they will not be in hysterics and try to contact help, then we should tell them. It's up to me to get Miss Weasley out of that school, not the Ministry of Magic. And I won't risk anything going wrong."

Dumbledore rose and went to a small door at the other end of the circular room, placing his hand on the knob. "Not to worry, Severus. I have already explained to them that Ginny is not sick, but in a place that had to be kept a great secret. They were dismayed and frightened, but they are ready and willing to hear and to help." 

I looked at Snape, a half smile on my face. I had the distinct feeling that Dumbledore most likely told them weeks ago where Ginny was being held. Dumbledore wasn't the kind of man who would keep something like that from her parents, even if Snape and I were. I should have known that.

Dumbledore opened the door and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley stepped into the room. Mrs. Weasley was crying slightly as she went to me and embraced me. "Are you alright, love? Are Harry and Hermione all right? And how's my Ron? We've been so worried since Professor Dumbledore told us where Ginny was. We had a feeling, of course. We knew she couldn't be sick. We felt it and were expecting it." 

"That was why we didn't want to," I tried to explain. "Because we didn't want you to be sad. Please don't be upset at me." For some reason it meant the world that she forgave me."

"We're not upset, dear. We're glad you all got out of that place safely. As for our little girl…we're sure we'll get her back."

Mr. Weasley nodded. "Dumbledore told us a while ago. We've been in touch and coming up with solutions. But I hear that Severus has a plan."

Snape stiffened and stood up. "I do. But I will need the boy's help." He gestured to me. "We will get Miss Weasley out again. However, we will need your support when we retrieve her because we're not sure how she will be when we find her. I'm almost certain that she is alive, but I'm not sure if she will be your daughter in mind and spirit."

Mrs. Weasley nodded bravely and Mr. Weasley took her hand in support. "We will do whatever we can to help. We're ready and we're not afraid."

I stood next to Snape, who put a hand on my shoulder. I wondered how the Weasley's could be so calm. They were doing fabulously. 

Dumbledore conjured up a pot of tea and some cups. He flicked his wand and the tea magically poured itself. "So, Severus, now that we have all the help and support we need, when would it be best to go in after Miss Weasley?"

Snape brooded for a moment. "Sunday. On Sunday there are no classes and everyone is in their rooms and quiet. We should be able to get in and find Miss Weasley without anyone noticing. I will wait at the gate to open and close it, as Draco does not possess the powers to do it. He will have to find Miss Weasley on his own. Or perhaps…" He looked at me. "Take Mr. Potter along with you. You may need someone to help carry her. Or a backup if something happens."

Mrs. Weasley pressed a hand over her heart. "Oh, nothing will go wrong, will it?"

I puffed out my chest. "I will make sure nothing happens, Mrs. Weasley. I'll get her back in one piece."

"And I will be nearby if they need me," Snape added.

Dumbledore went to me and placed a hand on my head. It made me feel safe and comfortably drowsy. "I put my full trust in these boys, Mrs. Weasley. If anyone can get your daughter back safely, it is them and Severus Snape!"

*~~~~~~*

Even so, that evening I was too nervous to eat dinner. I sat at the Gryffindor table with Harry and the others, but we just picked at our food. They were all thinking the same thing I was. What if Ginny was dead, or we couldn't find her? Or she was beyond repair? I needed more help to get through the Black School and I thought I knew where to get it. As I checked my watch, Hermione stabbed her pudding violently with her spoon. "I don't want you doing it again, Draco!"

I jumped. "What?"

"What you told us this morning about what you did last night with Tom, Draco. I know you're thinking about going down there to the Chamber of Secrets again to see if you can channel Salazar Slytherin for more help. Well, it's just too dangerous! There has to be another way to find Ginny's Soul than with some evil magical key that you don't have anymore and probably never did."

Ron snorted. "Sometimes you're just too sensible! I for one think that if Slytherin is the only one who can help us, we should accept it."

Harry nodded. "What if Draco really did have the key? What if it really leads to some chamber of Souls or whatever it is?"

Hermione pouted. "I thought _you_ were usually more intelligent than this." 

Ron slapped a hand on the table, his temper flaring. "It's not a question of intelligence…it's all about finding my sister! I agree with Harry!" Several students looked at us curiously, so we tried to look normal.

I rose from the table. "I for one am going. I need more information. If any of you want to come and see for yourselves that Tom can channel Slytherin, then we'll be glad for the company. Otherwise, you can go search the library, Hermione, and see who comes up with the most information sooner." I grinned with superiority. Hermione could be so dull! Besides, I was dying to see the room of Souls again. And Tom, too. I missed him when he was down in the dungeons and the whole transmission of Slytherin through him had been nothing short of amazing. 

Hermione could tell that she was on the loosing side. "What time, Draco?"

"Two o'clock. After Snape has gone to sleep. I'll sneak out and meet you outside the Potions classroom then. We'll all go down and get Tom together."

Hermione shrugged. "I don't like this. But Ron is right. If there is even the slightest chance that this will help Ginny, we have to do it." She took Ron's face in one of her hands and turned it. She laughed. "You still have lipstick on your cheek from your mum!"

Harry grinned. "You should have seen it, Draco. Mrs. Weasley ran to Ron when we came down to the Great Hall and started planting kisses all over his face. It was all very sweet and sappy and all." Harry made a quick kissing gesture at Ron before popping a blueberry into his mouth.

Ron glowered and rubbed at his face, but I laughed. "I guess that explains why Nathaniel looked the way he did when my nurse brought him down for dinner." 

Little Nathaniel was sitting next to me on a cushion, calmly eating Neville Longbottom's discarded peas from off his plate. But he had two big red lip marks on both of his cheeks that I hadn't taken the time to wipe off.

"Poor kid," Ron remarked. "No one deserves that." 

I laughed again and hoisted Nathaniel onto my hip. "I'm going back to Snape's room, but I'll see you outside the potions classroom. Oh, and bring the large invisibility cloak with you too. I have yours already, Harry."

Harry's eyes went wide. "You _what_?" 

I swiped a hand through the air nonchalantly. "Oh, I just borrowed it."

Harry rolled his eyes. "You really can't be trusted."

I grinned. "I know." And I was off. 

*~~~~~*

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Note: Hi everyone! Sorry if this chapter wasn't too exciting, but it had to be written. I decided that Dumbledore would not have told a lie to the Weasley's about Ginny just being sick and that they really should know. Sometimes I have the kids in life threatening situations and I forget about the hysterical parents and then don't know how to handle them. So thus, they now know and have decided to help. That's what I get for writing myself into a corner. lol Anyway, no harm done. Next chapter should be the second transmission with Slytherin and then the actual rescue of Ginny, which we've all be waiting for. Thanks so much for the reviews! Until next time! *hugs*


	5. The Golden Key

Draco Malfoy, Seeker Of Souls

Chapter Five

The Golden Key

**~~~~~**

I think that we really should form a comedy troupe. Four kids just cannot walk down a hallway properly without making a huge fuss.

"Draco! Quit treading on my feet!"

"What are you babbling on about, Ron? I'm a whole person away from you! Hermione is next to you, Git!"

"Hermione!"

"Honestly, sorry!"

Admittedly, we were grumpy and frightened. Tom was the only one who was silent. Silent and determined, I thought. Harry was scrunched up next to him under the cloak, but he kept eyeing him suspiciously. "I'll be glad when we get this over with. I've never channeled before," said Harry.

It was time for Brainiac to put in her two cents. "I've read about channeling before."

I rolled my eyes. "I saw that coming."

I was elbowed sharply. "Ahem. As I was saying, I read that channeling can be very useful, but also dangerous the more times you do it. We ought to be alright doing it this once, but to be possessed multiple times can be risky."

I was too excited to be terribly frightened. I didn't feel like listening to cautions. "Yes, yes, yes. Just hold Ron's hand and stay back like a good girl and you'll be fine. I'll do the talking, thanks."

I suddenly had three people glaring at me for sounding like my old arrogant self. I raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Tom suddenly spoke and my companions jumped nearly a mile. "We're at the bathroom now."

We all looked at him, and then at various spots on the stone floor. We looked and felt so immature compared to Tom. Tom who was brilliant and handsome and calm. I found myself wanting to be just like him.

I pulled the cloak closer around my shoulders. "Now, everyone be quiet so we don't wake up Moaning Myrtle. We'll never find Ginny if she has her wish."

Ron cackled. "Plus she thinks Harry is the very best! She'll drag him down into the pipes with her someday, just watch!"

"Oh, leave the poor girl alone!" Hermione scolded. Once again, I received the mental image of Hermione and Myrtle being one in the same. I started to laugh. Ron looked at me as if I was crazy.

I winced and cleared my throat. "Well, at any rate, down into the Chamber we go."

We crept into the bathroom and Tom moved forward to hiss the command to the sink, as the others observed him warily. We then all plummeted down towards adventure.

*****

Free from the obstructive cloaks, we moved about the large chamber, looking things over. Ron hadn't been down in the Chamber Of Secrets since Second Year, and Hermione hadn't been at all, so they were a good deal nervous and curious. According to Harry, Ron hadn't made it into the main chamber at all, so this was all new to him. As for Harry and me, we were right at home….almost. It was strange without Ginny.

Hermione and Ron disappeared down a corridor while Tom knelt down in front of the statue of Slytherin. I pulled out my wand and motioned for Harry to join us. "Hey, there's a really pretty pool in this room!" Ron's voice called.

"DON'T GO IN THE POOL!" Harry and I screamed at the top of our lungs.

Tom rolled his eyes. "Oh, honestly! There's not a drop of magic in there. Try to trust me a little, won't you?"

Harry crossed his arms and sulked.

Once everyone had gotten his or her jollies out, we all knelt in front of the statue of Salazar Slytherin. I brandished my wand with a flourish and instructed that everyone close his or her eyes and concentrate on what I was saying. I thrust my wand to the sky and called out in my strongest voice, "Oh, great Salazar Slytherin who's blood courses through my body, as well as that of Tom Marvolo Riddle! I, Draco Lucius Malfoy beg your assistance once more to find your own true daughter Virginia Weasley!" I had my eyes closed so tightly that they hurt. I could feel Tom start to rock in place next to me.

Ron grumbled something to the effect of, "She is NOT his daughter! This is stupid!" and then the sounds of the chamber faded and I could hear the sound of the whooshing Souls flying through the air.

I cried out in excitement. "Open your eyes! Oh, open your eyes!"

I reached out and held onto the arms of those next to me. We were floating above the ground, facing the throne like before. Hermione cried out and clutched onto me, staring at the golden throne with surprise. Her cry echoed and sounded distant in the huge round room.

Tom was again sitting on the throne, only this time Ginny was not in his lap. The familiar green light filled his eyes and he tilted his head slightly. "You have returned, Seeker."

Harry's voice drifted to my ears. "Is he talking to me?" Harry thought of himself as the ultimate of all Seekers and I knew it.

"He calls me Seeker," I said, my voice fading into nothing.

Slytherin floated a few inches off of the throne. "I did not expect you until you had the body of the Lost with you. What is it you wish to ask? The time grows late and her body slips farther into sleep."

I felt suddenly panicked. What did he mean, her body was slipping into sleep? "I wished to see you again to tell you…I think I lost the key you gave me. I can't find it anywhere." I lowered my eyes. "I'm sorry, Sir."

Slytherin appeared to laugh. "Worry not, Seeker. You shall have your key. When the time is right, all shall be set before you."

I floated a bit higher than Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "I also wanted you to meet the others. They're my…friends, you see. They'll help."

Slytherin's eyes flashed once. "I see. They are indeed here to help. But they do not trust me." He floated off the throne and plucked a Soul from the air above him. "Don't worry, little children. You shall have your Soul and no harm will come to you here."

The Dream Team shivered, but looked longingly at the Soul. We all knew it belonged to Ginny.

Ron was pleading. "Please…just let me have it! Oh, please!"

The light in Slytherin's eyes started to die out and Tom's dark eyes were seen filtering back in. "We're exhausting him," I whispered and then spoke up quickly. "Thank you, great Salazar Slytherin. We will return again when we find your daughter, Ginny." I closed my eyes and when I opened them again, I was in darkness. I sat up quickly and looked around the room frantically. I was in bed in Snape's room. I sucked in my breath and cried out in panic. Snape stirred, but didn't move.

I ran through the castle, until I reached the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. I wasn't there thirty seconds before my three friends burst out. We all looked at each other in wonder for several minutes, before tripping back to bed. We had nothing to say about it that night, except that it was extraordinary.

As I crawled back into bed after bringing Nathaniel over from his bassinet to sleep with me, I felt a sharp stab of pain in my back. I reached my hand under my quilt and pulled out the large golden key. My eyes widened. I now had the key to the Hall of Souls.

*~~~~~*

__

Note: Thanks to everyone who left nice reviews! Sorry for the delay…writer's block and lack of inspiration is plaguing me right now. *Sigh* Anyway, the next chapter should be easy to write since it's such a big exciting part! Finally we will be able to see what happened to Ginny! But what will she be like exactly? Find out next time!


	6. Return To The Black School

Draco Malfoy, Seeker Of Souls

Chapter Six

Return To The Blackschool

**~~~~~**

I awoke to the feeling of pressure on my stomach. "Hop off, Nattie…Daddy is trying to sleep." 

"Sorry, _Daddy_." I heard snickers. 

I opened my eyes with a start and thrashed. "Potter! What the hell are you doing?"

Harry hopped off the bed. "Grumpy, are you?"

Snape swept into my part of the room, which silenced Harry. "Come boys, we're going on a trip."

I sat up and rubbed my eyes. Could it be Sunday already? I suddenly felt the coldness of the golden key that hung around my neck underneath my nightclothes. It was time. Time for Ginny to come home again.

I looked at the clock. It read two in the morning. I must have only slept for a couple of hours. I sat in something of a stupor of thoughts and fear mixed with exhaustion as I watched Snape bundling Harry up in a warm cloak and strapping a satchel on his back. "There are things for Ginny in here. I'm not sure if she will be wearing any clothing. Dress her warmly…the Black School is full of drafts, as you know."

Harry nodded. "Yes, Sir." Harry and Snape had found new respect for each other and I grinned. We were all such a happy family.

"Come on, Draco. Out of bed and into your clothes. We need to be there before first light. The earlier we get in, the better chance we have. I want to be in and out by seven o'clock."

"Before the students start to wake up?" I asked.

"Yes. They will sleep in for quite awhile. No one wants to get up early on Sunday."

"Especially Draco," Harry quipped. 

I stuck out my tongue viciously and pulled on heavy jeans and a sweater. It was mid-spring, but the Black School was always freezing, as Snape had noted. 

Once I was bundled in my cloak and we had our hoods on, the three of us exited the school by way of the front entrance and headed across the grass towards the Quidditch field. Hermione waved to us from the front door as we left, clutching groggy Nathaniel to her chest. A sulky Ron paced around behind her. He wanted to go, rather than stay at the school and baby-sit, but Snape had told them to remain. The fewer people in the Black School, the better. 

Harry hurried to keep up with Snape's purpose-filled stride, and I was practically running to keep up do to my short legs and oversized jeans I happened to be wearing. "You look like a punk!" Hermione had noted, but I had ignored it. Now I was hoping I didn't trip and make an arse of myself in front of Harry.

"Sir, where are we going?" Harry asked, grabbing onto my arm to pull me along. Oh, the indignity! 

"Feel like taking a bit of a fly this morning, Potter?"

"Oh, yes!" Harry's eyes gleamed with the very thought.

"We're taking the brooms?" I grinned and Harry and I slapped each other five like a couple of goofy kids.

"Come along, _children_." Snape rolled his eyes. 

*****

In my opinion, things had been going quite well, except for one odd point. It was now approximately three o'clock, so we only had about four hours to get to Spain and find what was left of Ginny. Harry and I looked at each other as we climbed onto our brooms. The Firebolt II was fast, but not _that_ fast.

As if Snape could read our minds, he pulled out his wand. "You will be there very shortly, you will see. Hold on tightly to those brooms, and don't let go, whatever you do."

Harry's voice trembled. "What are you going to do?"

"A simple spell that will make your brooms go so fast that the Muggle eye will not even see you unless they know you're there. That will solve both the problems of being seen and the amount of time it takes you to get there. You should be in Spain in less than an hour."

"Bloody hell!" I cried. I couldn't help it. I wasn't sure if I would be able to hold onto my broom for that long, going so fast and all. I wasn't really an expert flyer, even if I was moderately good at Quidditch. Even Harry looked unsure.

"Don't worry, Draco." Snape chanted a spell and a bolt of red light shot out of his wand and enveloped our brooms. They started to vibrate rapidly as the power surged through them. Our hands were suddenly bound to the brooms with the red light, guaranteeing that we would not fall off. 

"Alright!" Harry yelled in delight.

"I'll be apparating. I'll see you boys in an hour." With a poof, Snape was gone. 

Harry looked at me. "So that's it? How are we supposed to know how to get there?"

I was too busy looking at my broom in horror to answer. I was scared out of my wits. Suddenly, my broom rose above the ground without me even telling it to, as did Harry's. "Harry…I…AHHHH!" My broom gave a lurch and blasted off into the sky. Everything around me – sky, trees, buildings (Yes, buildings! Who knows how we streaked past a city in less than thirty seconds!)- were nothing but a blur. When I finally stopped screaming like a maniac, I could hear Harry's whoops and hollers next to me, so I knew I wasn't alone. I just closed my eyes and let the broom carry me wherever it wanted me to go. 

*****

Before I had enough time to fully think though what was happening, my Firebolt II blasted to a stop and I went flying as the magical red cords unbound my broom. With a yell, I flopped over in a couple of summersaults and promptly landed in a heap of robes in the grass. The lump that was Harry quickly collided with me and we rolled more. When we were finally still, we lay there, dazed. "What a miserable landing," Harry muttered.

Pale hands reached down, seemingly from the sky, to lift us each by an arm. "Welcome, boys." Snape smiled at us. "Did you have a nice trip?"

I made a noise and tried not to fall over again on my wobbly feet.

"Oh, look!" cried Harry. He was looking at the sky, which was full of brilliant stars. 

"I wish Ginny could see this," I lamented.

"She will very soon." Snape knelt and unzipped his own satchel. He pulled out Harry's invisibility cloak. "Mr. Potter was kind enough to let us use this for the retrieval."

Harry looked quite proud.

"Thanks, Harry." I slung an arm around his shoulders in a friendly gesture. "So what do we do, Professor?"

"I'll open the gate for you, and you two will go into the school under the cloak until you find Ginny. Then dress her and carry her back out, but be careful not to make a sound. If anyone realizes you are there, you may be forced to give up one of your Souls, and then we will have lost another one of you. Let's make this work the first time."

"But how will we know where to look?" I asked. "The school is huge."

"Try the lowest level under the earth. She will be down there somewhere."

I nodded and pulled the cloak over Harry's and my head. "We'll be back soon, and we'll have her with us."

**~~~~~**


	7. What Was Left Of Ginny

Draco Malfoy, Seeker Of Souls

Chapter Seven

What Was Left Of Ginny

**~~~~~**

Harry and I were soon tiptoeing through the familiar halls of the Black School where we had had classes less than a month ago. It seemed like so much longer that Ginny had been gone, but really it had only been a matter of weeks. I couldn't figure out if time dragged or flew by. 

Harry checked his watch. "We can't loose track of time," he whispered. "It was always too easy to do that." 

I nodded. "I wish Snape was with us. He would know right where to go. Too bad he needed to work the gate. What are we going to do?"

Harry gripped my arm, staring at my chest. "Draco, take out the key!"

"What is it?"

"It's glowing!" 

I reached into my robe and pulled out the key, which had been glowing brightly through the fabric of my robe and cloak. "So it is." I held it out in front of us, careful not to let it fall out of the invisibility cloak, even though there was no one around.

Harry leaned forward to gaze at it, the light reflecting in the lenses of his glasses. "What should we do with it?"

I shook my head. "I don't bloody well know." We both stared at it, thinking, while our time ticked away. "You know, Harry, sometimes the most stupid questions can get you want you want." I held the key up a little higher and simply asked it, "I say…will you please take us to Ginny?" I looked at Harry and shrugged, and he did the same. Asking politely was always a nice thing.

The key gave a little lurch and flashed. It then lifted until it was horizontal on its string and the notches were pointing down one of three corridors. Harry and I gawked at it, but wasted no more time. We tiptoed down the corridor as fast as our legs could carry us quietly.

We walked for a dreadfully long time, twisting and turning down dark hallways, drips of icy water falling on our heads, seeping through the cloak. "I sure hope this key will show us the way back to the gates, provided it knows where we're going right now." Harry eyed the key, which I held in front of us. It vibrated and decided on a left-hand turn down an even darker and colder tunnel. 

"Me too," I agreed. I felt guilty that it was Harry who was with me instead of Ron, since he was Ginny's brother and all. Ron was swell, but Harry really had the brains when it came to dangerous rescue missions. I was quite glad he was with me.

Eventually we stumbled into a low passage that was colder than ever. Harry almost had to stoop to keep his head from hitting the ceiling. Another good reason to have Harry along – Ron's head would have definitely scraped the ceiling. 

Harry and I pulled out our wands. "_Lumos_," we chanted. The dim light that sprang forth from our wands illuminated the stone walls. Writing was scrawled in the stone, in Latin or some similar ancient text. Harry was breathing heavily. "What does it mean? Do you think it's some kind of trap?"

I shrugged. My heart skipped a beat when Harry said 'trap.' I had never considered that these hallways might be booby trapped in some way. "I don't know much Latin. I don't even know if this _is_ Latin." I wracked my brain, traveling back to when I was about nine and ten when Father tried to teach me some old world languages. I never was very good. "Um… 'Alaisdair'… 'Cornelius'…I think they may just be names. There are other words, sure, but all I can make out are names."

"I can see names too," said Harry. "I wonder if Ginny's is on here? Maybe they're people who had to stay behind."

I had been thinking along the same lines. "Let's keep moving. We must be on the right path." I felt like the walls and ceiling were starting to close in on me. I was starting to feel very unnerved. 

Harry and I trooped on, as the ceiling became lower and the walls closer to us. Harry and I held onto each other for comfort as we crept along. It felt like being in a haunted house with no exit. There we were, half-grown boys, fighting the desire to whimper aloud. 

Out of nowhere, Harry went sprawling onto the floor, and our wands were dropped in the confusion. As soon as they left our hands, the magic was doused and we were left alone in the darkness. 

I screamed. I couldn't stand the claustrophobia of it anymore. "Harry! Harry!" I couldn't breathe.

"Draco!" he answered, sounding as panicked as I was. It reminded me of being in the Forbidden Forest with him and old Hagrid's dog, back when we were just little tykes of eleven. Only, this is the part where Fang and I turn tail and run like maniacs.

I heard Harry fumbling around near me, and then the word, "Lumos." Harry's wand blazed forth in a most welcomed gleam, but it turned out Harry wished it was still dark. He was sitting on a rotted corpse. He started to scream his head off, and I gladly followed his example. The cowardly twins where back again, full throttle. 

Harry's body made a rolling motion with a will of its own. He careened into me, and we stared at the old bodies that lay all around us, covered in moldy sheets. We never stopped yelling the whole time. Finally, Harry wrapped his arm around my neck and covered my open mouth from behind. "Shut up, Draco!" he gasped. "We have to be quiet or someone will hear us!" His voice was very choked up in his throat.

"I don't much care for that!" I muttered, pulling his hand away. Being heard was the last thing on my mind. On the contrary, I thought we needed some rescue efforts from others. I stared at the bodies. "What happened to them? Had their Souls stolen, I suppose." I tried to catch my breath. 

"We'd better move. Let's find Ginny and get her out of here." We started to run the best we could, even though we were running half-hunched over from the low ceiling. We tripped several times over the corpses which because fresher and fresher the farther in we went. I thought I might be sick before we found Ginny. And to think that these poor people were once students here, their only crime wanting to leave. And I suppose they lay down here in the cold, alive but without a Soul, for a long time before their bodies finally stopped working. And they never knew a thing. I had started to cry silently without even noticing.

"Red! I see red hair!" Harry threw himself down and started to dig through a pile of people, more recently dead than any others. Old enough not to smell, but new enough to be identifiable. I was so relieved that I didn't know a one of them.

It snapped in hard what Harry had said, and I was on my hands and knees too, tossing the grossly wrapped shapes aside. "Ginny!" We pulled up Ginny, clothed only in a thin sheet. Her mouth hung open, and she was shivering slightly. She was alive! Her eyes were tightly closed and had not been opened for some time. Her skin was very white and the blue of her veins could be seen right through it. She had some kind of bug in her hair…I didn't even want to know what it was. I knew that Ginny wasn't inside her body, but I so glad to just have that, that I hugged her as tightly as I could. Harry threw himself on her naked legs and held on hard. 

We wasted little time after that. I pulled the satchel off of Harry's back and I pulled out the sweater and pajama pants that Snape had packed to dress her in. I sat her up and pulled the sheet off of her. I had no time to consider the fact that she was naked, poor thing, except for her undies, I was too busy pulling the sweater over her head. I'm sure she would have had a fit if Harry had seen her without clothes on, but Harry was working to get the pants over her feet, and paying no attention. We soon had her dressed, and in my arms. She weighed next to nothing. I was very scared. 

We walked along quickly, once again under the cloak, Harry holding the key in front of us and rubbing Ginny's white bare feet helplessly from time to time. I was jabbering to fill the void of silence. "We did it. We have her, Harry! Now all we have to do is get her Soul back. How hard can that be? Heh heh." I sounded like a fool. Harry smiled at me in a pained way. I was glad he was humoring me. 

For as long as it took us to get down there the first time, we seemed to make it back up to the populated part of the school quite quickly. To our horror, there were now students in the main cavern of the school, which we conveniently had to cross to get to the main gate and Snape. "Oh no! What do we do? What if they hear us?" I was feeling more cowardly by the second. I wanted to go home and be _normal_! 

Harry rubbed my shoulders. "We can do it. Just be as silent as possible. They won't hear us." He pulled the cloak farther over our heads and we tiptoed in though the huge room. I had my mouth open in fear. What if we couldn't get her out? I would never forgive myself, and neither would Ron, her parents, Snape, Dumbledore, and about a million other nice people, unlike me. 

The students sometimes vaguely looked our way, as if they thought they heard footsteps or sensed a presence, and I gulped, looking into their eyes and wondering if they could see mine. But the Black School itself was shrouded in mystery and I wouldn't have been surprised if there had been invisible silent beings slinking in the hallways unknown to all, just like us. 

As soon as we made it to the main hallway, we took off in a dead run. Snape was standing outside, the sun shining on his dark hair. He looked rather like an evil god, which made my heart leap. I wished I could look like him someday. 

Harry plummeted on the gate. "Professor!" he hissed.

Snape started and touched the gate with his hand. It opened and we threw ourselves at him, making it out of the Black School without any incident. The cloak fell off us as we lunged and he barely caught us. He grunted. "I see you found her." He steadied us and ran a hand over her cheek. "She looks bad, but I think we'll find a way to fix her."

"I know how to do it." I said. I clutched a stitch in my side and leaned against Harry. I had never been so relieved in my life. 

"We'll talk about it later. In the meantime we must get her back to Hogwarts and get her completely warm and food inside of her. Take the brooms. I'll apparate with her. See you shortly, boys. You've done very well, the both of you." He took Ginny from me. She looked tiny and frail in his arms. I whimpered. Meanwhile, Snape disappeared.

Harry pushed me to my feet again. "Let's go!" He ran to the brooms and hopped on. "I want to be there when Ron sees her, don't you?"

"Yes." I followed him, but I dragged my feet a little bit. It just didn't seem real, and it had sunk in that Ginny wasn't really back. We only had her body. I couldn't even start to imagine what it would be like when she awoke. Part of me didn't want to know.

Harry smiled. "Come on."

I was so grateful for Harry at that moment, that I threw my arms around his neck. He made a small yelp. It was the first time I had given him a real hug. He patted me awkwardly. "It's all right."

"Er…thanks." I pulled away, my face burning, and climbed on my broom. My hand were bound by the red cords and we were soon blasting over the countryside. 

**~~~~~**

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Note: I had a couple of requests for e-mails when this was updated, so I just wanted to let everyone know that if you do want updates on fanfiction, you can join my updates list on my drawing page found here: http://www.angelfire.com/mi3/ladygrizdrawings . There are updates on fanfiction as well as art, so you can keep up with it that way if you wish. Thanks so much for reading! Hope you enjoyed this rather intense chapter. Next time, what will Ginny be like when she awakes?…provided she does awake. 


	8. Sorting Hat Shock

Draco Malfoy, Seeker Of Souls

Chapter Eight

Sorting Hat Shock

**~~~~~**

When Harry and I arrived at the school, we plummeted down the stairs to Snape's room. We couldn't wait to get to Ginny, and the trip back from the Black School had seemed horribly long.

We burst in and found Ron sitting on Snape's bed, Ginny in his lap, fresh tears in his eyes. He looked up at us and blinked. "Thank you so much."

We smiled. "She'll be alright, Ron," said Harry.

Hermione came out of the bathroom, Snape right behind her. "We've drawn her a bath. We need to get her all cleaned up." She took one of Ginny's hands and rubbed it. "She's so cold."

Snape cleared his throat. "I'll carry her in to the bathroom and Hermione will bathe her. You boys help me brew a potion to warm her up from the inside out. She's near death as it is, and I don't want her getting a chill." 

Potion brewing was fine and all, and Harry and Ron nervously helped, but I couldn't stay out of the bathroom. Hermione kept chiding me for being in there, but I felt like I needed to help in some way. She finally let me wash Ginny's hair. As I worked in special shampoo to kill the bugs, I thought about what would happen next. "I need to go down to see Tom Riddle. He'll be wanting to know how Ginny is."

Hermione cleared her throat and gently scrubbed one of Ginny's arms. "Must you?"

"What's wrong with that?" I felt slightly annoyed. 

She turned on the water and looked at me. "I don't think we like him very much, if you want the truth. He looks at both Ginny and Harry with some kind of hunger."

I snorted. "You're imagining things."

She shrugged. "It's up to you, but try to be careful for once in your life."

I glowered, but ignored it. 

At that point, pretty much everybody swooped in like mother hens (if you can really picture Snape as a huge mother fowl and all). Harry and Ron were brandishing potions and Snape had clean clothes. Everyone gathered helpfully around the tub until Hermione started to howl about every male in Hogwarts mulling around this poor girl and that they'd better all get out until Ginny was properly dressed, thank you very much! Hermione was so scary when she was mad that Snape practically cowered and pulled the boys out. I was promptly shoved out too and had to wait on Snape's bed with everyone else. 

Snape didn't take too well to having us all hanging around in his bedroom. He drifted around in the corner, glowering at Ron who was kneading Snape's bed spread out of sheer nervousness with his hands, and occasionally trying to untangle Nathaniel from a curtain cord he had been happily chewing on. It was a welcome sight when Hermione threw open the bathroom door and announced that _now_ we could come in. 

Hermione had managed to lift Ginny from the tub and pull her warm nightgown over her head. I helped shove her arms through the sleeves and hoist pajama pants up her legs for extra warmth before I carried her out into the bedroom. "I'm scared," I said. "She hasn't batted an eyelash yet."

Snape knelt next to her on the bed and lifted her head. "Draco, pour the potions into her mouth. It should help bring her around."

I did so and she coughed – a most welcome sound. We all gathered around her and looked at her expectantly. Soon she opened her eyes in a blurry sort of way and blinked at us. Her eyes were staring as if she was blind and they didn't focus on us. A sea of dull brown mostly hid her pupils and she stared at nothing. "Ginny?" I whispered.

I felt someone rubbing my shoulders. It was Snape. "She can't hear you, Draco. Her Soul is gone. She's alive, but not complete."

"Severus is correct," came a voice from the doorway. Dumbledore was standing there, the teary-eyed Weasley parents behind him. "Until we can locate her Soul again, she will remain like this."

I was bursting to tell my secret, but Harry shook his head at me. They would never believe me, and we weren't really going about getting Ginny's Soul back in the most honest of ways. If they knew we had been down in the Chamber Of Secrets again, after all the trouble it had caused…

"May we see her?" Mrs. Weasley asked. I had never seen her so subdued before. 

Snape nodded. "She's awake and she might respond well to your touch. But don't expect her to acknowledge it very much. She may have shreds of herself in there somewhere, but she's certainly not complete." 

Mrs. Weasley moved forward into the room and gathered Ginny up in her arms. Ginny's stare remained the same, but her breathing seemed to soften. It wasn't long before she was asleep again, calm in her mother's arms, even if she really didn't know she was there. 

Mr. Weasley sat next to his wife and stroked his daughter's damp hair. "How long will it take to retrieve her Soul again?" He looked desperate. 

Dumbledore's eyes were sad. "I will be honest with you. Nothing like this has ever happened in the history of the wizarding world that I have heard tell of. When a Soul was lost in the Black School, it was typically thought to be gone forever. No one has ever tried to retrieve one. There were only two beings in the world who might have known how to do it and one has been dead for years…" We kids looked at each other. Could he mean Salazar Slytherin? "…And the other is such a supreme evil that he will be very hard to catch, even by the most clever and talented wizard." He looked at me and then at Harry. "But I have very high hope. It is all right here in their heads," he said very softly so only Harry and I heard him clearly. 

I started and so did Harry. "'_It's all here in your head'_…" he muttered. 

" '_Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness'_…" I finished, giving him a piercing look, which he returned. 

The Weasley's were unaware of this very powerful moment that Harry and I seemed to be having. "Anything you can do," murmured Mrs. Weasley. "Anything at all." 

Dumbledore moved forwards and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Everything will work out." He was looking steadily at us. Harry and I had the distinct feeling that the weight of this was resting squarely on our shoulders.

Dumbledore proceeded to lead the Weasley's out, Ginny in their arms, to visit the twins and the rest of the brothers in a room down the hall. She was going to be put in a secret room next to Snape's so we could keep a close eye on her until she was herself again. "Come along, young ones," said Dumbledore. "You can help us settle her in. You've all done very well."

Ron and Hermione linked hands and followed the Weasley's out. Snape covered up Nathaniel with a blanket where he had dozed off on the floor, and then went to get ready for lessons the next day, leaving Harry and me in the room. I turned to follow Ginny's family, but Harry grabbed my arm. "How did you know what the Sorting Hat said to me?" he hissed.

I frowned. "I could ask you the same thing! It told me I was to be great, and all the greatness was right there in my head." I grinned with smug pride.

"The hat told me that too!" Harry frowned. He was holding onto my arm very tightly as if it was my fault.

"That hurts!" I said, trying to wrench away. 

"How could it have told you that? It hardly even made it on your head when it announced that you were going to be in Slytherin!"

I flinched, a bit fearful of him. "It was on my head long enough to tell me that! It said I could be great, it was all in my head, and that Slytherin would help me on my way to greatness. It had time to tell me that while it was being dropped to my head. It knew where I would do best!" I was talking very rapidly.

"It told me the same thing!" This seemed to have unnerved the great Harry Potter very much. With a smooth motion of his arm, he threw me over onto my bed and fled. I sat up and sneered after him, rubbing my arm where he had bruised it. Who needs him, anyway! Great git! 

*****

I was laying on my bed sulking when Harry came in through the door. I looked at him and glared. "What are you doing in here, Potter?"

He made an annoyed noise. "Oh, honestly, don't go back to calling me that! There's something very irritating about being called by your last name all the time." He sat down at the end of the bed.

"Humph. You're the one who got all mad at me over the Sorting Hat." I lay there and refused to look at him.

He reached over and fingered my arm where he had grabbed me. "Are you alright? I shouldn't have thrown you."

I quirked an eyebrow. And how many times had I been rough with him? "It's fine." 

He sighed. "I was just unnerved. I can't believe the Sorting Hat said the exact same thing to the both of us. Only, I was begging to be anywhere but in Slytherin. So it put me in Gryffindor. That's the only difference."

I looked at him with interest. "You were supposed to be in Slytherin?"

He looked down. "Yes…but don't tell anyone!"

I shrugged. "What's so wrong with Slytherin? I love being a Slytherin."

"That's because you're a dark wizard." 

I put on a mock expression of hurt. "How dare you!"

"Sorry…but your reputation, you know…"

"I know." I was starting to get that age-old glimmer of excitement. What could the Hat have known about Harry and I that we didn't? It made me wonder if the Hat was all knowing and that it knew our destinies long before we did. I decided not to worry about it, even if it was creepy. We had enough to think about.

**~~~~~**

__

Note: The quotes in italics are J.K. Rowling's words, not mine. They are what the Sorting Hat told Harry in the books, of course. 


	9. Quidditch: Potter Versus Malfoy

Draco Malfoy, Seeker Of Souls

Chapter Nine

Quidditch: Potter Verses Malfoy

**~~~~~**

Harry and I had not played Quidditch for ages. Harry had played at the beginning of the year up until we went to the Black School. I, however, had not even been at school for most of my fifth year, so I hadn't been able to play at all. I was depressed.

Harry was in the doldrums too. Ginny was showing some signs of improvement, but not much, and the search for her Soul wasn't progressing very fast. I had had no time to spring Tom Riddle from the dungeons in order to contact Slytherin again. It was wearing on both me and Harry and we needed something to do to get our minds off it. Luckily, Snape came through. 

Harry and I were in Snape's room, looking after Ginny. Ginny sat on the bed, staring straight ahead, Nathaniel on her lap. Nathaniel was cheerfully sucking on his thumb, and one of Ginny's hands was stroking his hair gently. It was as if her body remembered this slight gesture, even if her brain did not. 

Snape entered and watched Ginny for a while before observing Harry and me in silence. "How would you both like to play Quidditch tomorrow morning?" he suddenly asked. 

Harry and I looked at him incredulously. "Really?" I asked.

"I figured we were off the teams since we were gone for so long this year," added Harry.

Snape's mouth betrayed a smile. "There are only a couple of matches left until the finals. Both of your teams said they wanted you back. The Gryffindors said that Harry was the best Seeker they'd had in years, and the Slytherins said they wanted Draco."

I was very surprised. "They did?"

Harry cackled at me. "So maybe you're not as bad as you look!"

"Shut it, Potter!"

Snape nodded. "So I imagine you should both go out and practice with your teams tonight. You'll need to get back in shape. I'll feed Miss Weasley and young Mr. Malfoy their dinners."

We both kissed Ginny on her cheeks and then scurried out of there to find our respective team captains, excitement blazing. 

*****

The next morning dawned clear as a bell. I woke up in Snape's room and headed down to breakfast to sit with the other Slytherins. I couldn't imagine why they were being so nice to me. As far as I could tell, they all thought I was the coolest because I escaped from the famous Black School of Spain and lived to tell about it. News traveled fast around Hogwarts, so everyone knew.

I relished in the attention, admittedly, even if it wasn't real friendship.

Harry was looking at me across the hall. He had a nervous look on his face. I was about ready to smile at him, when I remembered something. Our teams were playing each other today, and that meant that Harry and I had to catch the Snitch against each other. I hadn't even thought about that. When we had been solid enemies, it had been easy. I would have gladly knocked Potter off his broom for a chance to win, but now…it was going to be harder. I shrugged at Harry. It would work out okay. May the best team win.

I was just finishing up my toast when our captain came over to me. "Play a good game today, Malfoy. We can't loose to Gryffindor, understand?" His eyes had a fire in them. I looked up at him and nodded vaguely. I couldn't let them down. They were just starting to like me again. And I _had_ to be liked. 

*****

Later on, I stood in the entrance to the stadium, bundled up in my green Quidditch robes. I looked out at the throngs of people climbing up into the stands to watch the two most heated teams duke it out. And it all came down to me. I had never felt so frightened or so alive. I hadn't been there in almost two years and it felt strange. I also noticed that I couldn't have grown more than an inch in that time, as my fellow teammates were towering above me by at least two feet. Damn it all! 

I could vaguely hear Lee Jordan start commentating somewhere in the stands. We received the go-ahead and our team headed out onto the field. Harry's team was coming out from across the way. I scanned my eyes into the crowd, looking for our group. I finally spotted Hermione and Ron, who were jumping up and down waving Gryffindor flags. But suddenly they flashed to Slytherin green in support of me too. I grinned widely. My friends.

Ginny was sitting there too, having been introduced back to the school society. They all knew she was quite ill, and everyone was very supportive. I could see Hermione gently pointing me out to her. I was delighted that her eyes moved to me, and the flicker of a smile played on her lips. It gave me the idea that hope was not all lost. Her hands worked the blanket she was wrapped in as she watched me. Nathaniel was happily perched on his "Uncle" Ron's lap and I could tell that Ron was mouthing, "There's Daddy!" to him. I _had_ to win! There were so many people rooting for me. 

But then they were waving at Harry and I was forgotten. Only Ginny was still focused on me. I set my mouth in a straight line. I would have to beat Harry if I ever wanted to be back in with the Slytherins. That suddenly seemed very important. 

The whistle was soon blown and everything else was forgotten. I rose on my Firebolt II like a shooting star and rocketed up high into the sky. The wind blew through my hair and suddenly I was all-powerful. All that mattered was me and the Snitch. I did several loops on my broom to show off. 

Harry flew by me before long. "Good game then, Draco?" he asked hopefully.

I nodded vaguely. I also knew he was going to win. I couldn't let him do that. I would be humiliated. I took off rapidly, leaving Harry with a confused look on his face. 

I soared around for a good long time, searching desperately for a flash of gold. Harry was trailing me. How could I ever find the Snitch with him up there with me? I suddenly had a wicked idea. Harry would never think I would fake him out. The old Draco might have, but me? Never. I flew more towards Harry and made sure he was looking at me. I feigned a sudden look of brilliant excitement on my face and dive-bombed towards one of the Gryffindor Chasers. 

I turned my head around to see what Harry was doing, and he was looking around frantically in the direction I was speeding in. Finally, rather to be safe than sorry, he took chase. 

I sped down towards the ground, my hair blown straight back, my eyes open wide. I could feel Harry right on my tail, still searching frantically for what he couldn't see. I then cut sharply to the left, just missing the Gryffindor Chaser I was aiming for. She cried out, startled, and wrenched to the right, colliding with Harry. They both fell from their brooms and landed with a thunk on the ground. I, meanwhile, zoomed back up to my spot and started to desperately look for the Snitch again, now that Harry was out of my way. I felt a stab of nervousness as I watched Madam Pomfrey pulling Harry and the Chaser off the ground below, but I shrugged, ignoring the dirty looks the Weasley Twins were giving me. He had been almost at the ground when he fell, and probably wasn't hurt one bit. Meanwhile, I had the whole airspace to myself. 

I was flying free, when someone flew by me so close that I almost lost my balance. I thought it was a stray Bludger, but it was Harry. "What do you think you're doing?" he hissed. He had a very bad bruise starting to form on his cheek. 

"Playing Quidditch," I hissed back. "And you don't need to hiss," I finished.

"You tried to kill me!" he glowered. 

"I didn't mean to! I thought I saw the Snitch!" I lied. I gave him an innocent look.

Harry looked at me warily. "All right…" He headed off the other way, scanning the field below him. 

I breathed a sigh of relief. That had been close! He would be so mad if he learned that I had tried to make him fall off his broom. I wonder what had come over me! I figured I had better play a cleaner game for the rest of the match.

An hour later, the Slytherins were loosing. I really needed that Snitch more than anything, and the skittish thing hadn't shown itself yet. Every once in a while, Harry and I would zoom past each other and stick our tongues out playfully, but otherwise it had been an uneventful hour. 

I was in the midst of a yawn when something flew into my mouth, choking me. I coughed and spluttered and my eyes shot open. The Snitch had tried to make a dive right down my throat and now it was hovering right in front of me. Its light dazzled me and it took a moment for my hands to rise from the broomstick handle to grab at it. In that split second, it took off again. "NO!" I howled and dove after it.

Of course Harry had seen it by then, and the chase was on. It had flown right by him, so he was in the lead and I was behind by a good several meters. He was going to catch it! Gryffindor was going to win again. Perfect prats, winning everything all over the place. Why couldn't I seem to win anything? I remembered the pain I felt my first year when the beautiful green banners hanging in the great hall had changed to scarlet before my very eyes when the Gryffindors won the house cup. I suddenly felt anger for all of my weakness, and Harry's perfect winning ability. I put on an extra burst of speed. The Snitch was _mine_! 

Harry's cloak was flying just feet from my face. I heard a sudden voice in my head, not in my speaking voice, but Tom Riddle's. 'Why don't you just reach out and grab his cloak?' it said. 'It's right there in front of you.'

"Yes," I answered, and reached out, gripping it and pulling back as hard as I could. 

Harry immediately jumped. "Quit it!" he yelled, slapping at my hands.

"It's mine!" I screamed. I inched up on my broom.

"You're going crazy!" Harry hollered, and reached out a hand towards the Snitch. We were practically out of the stadium by now, and the spectators were shrieking, filling my ears. They would be so proud of me! 

"I _can't_ let you have it!" I cried. The voice in my head was louder. 'Jump for it. Take what's yours!' As the crowd screamed in horror, I let go of my broom and launched myself onto Harry. The force of me hitting him knocked him to the side and he barely held on with his legs, swinging off the side of the broom and coming to rest to hang underneath. I pitched forward as I lost my balance and clasped the Snitch in my hand, flying over the front of Harry's broom at the same time. I started to fall. I screamed.

"Draco!" Harry was hanging upside down on his broom, but he managed to grab onto my wrist as I did a flip in midair. His face was red from the blood flowing into it and with anger, but he held onto me.

"Just drop me!" I begged, clutching the Snitch tightly. "Don't try to help me!"

"You're mad!" We started to lower towards the ground. I looked down to see students running onto the field from the stands. The rest of our teams were standing in the middle, looking up at us fearfully. They had never seen anyone behave so aggressively in school Quidditch. 

Once we touched down on the ground, Harry rolled from under his broom and kicked my feet out from under me. I fell solidly and the wind was knocked out of me. "What's wrong with you!" he yelled. "You're such a bloody idiot!" He grabbed my shoulders and started to thump me against the ground. My eyes rolled.

In a moment, Madam Hooch was pulling Harry off of me. "Mr. Potter…please try to relax, Mr. Potter!" Harry was struggling. He looked like he wanted to tear my eyes out. 

I wasted no time. I jumped up and ran with all my might up to the school. I didn't stop until I had reached Snape's room. I then realized I still had the Snitch. We had won.

*****

Snape couldn't find me when he came into the room later. "Draco, are you here?" 

I refused to answer. I watched his feet pace back and forth across the room. "Come out here, right now. I know you're in here." He started to talk as if he knew I could hear him. "I'm very upset at you for diving after the Snitch like that. I think you almost gave Harry a heart attack and that was why he was so violent with you. You could have died!" 

I smiled ironically. It was odd to hear him sticking up for Harry.

He stopped pacing. "Where the hell are you?" He was starting to sound irritated. 

"Go away," I muttered in a small, yet defiant voice.

Snape's head appeared a moment later as he peered under the bed. "Come out from there, will you?"

"No!" I answered. I looked at him glumly, the Snitch idly flapping its wings where it lay in front of me. I was indeed sprawled on my stomach under the bed, still in my Quidditch pads. I felt safe under there. 

Snape glowered at me. "Don't be afraid of Harry. I'm sure he'll forgive you."

"I don't need Harry! I _hate_ him!" I screamed. 

Snape's mouth twitched into a smile. "So you'll sacrifice one of your friends over a game of Quidditch?"

"I have no friends!" I hollered. "Now go away! I don't want you here!" 

Snape did go away, which hurt. I was used to people pleading with me until they were finally reduced to begging. And Snape hadn't done that. He had just left me under the bed. I tried to fight the hot tears that were welling up in my eyes. I wouldn't cry. I would go see Tom. Tom liked me. And I liked him. He would make everything better. 

**~~~~~**

__

Note: Hey everyone! So glad you're enjoying it! Special "hi" to FireSprite! I've missed you! And I haven't been able to get to the Draco/Ginny list! :( So glad to see you! And to answer another question, Nathaniel is a little different from Baby Harry in the movie (I think. I can't remember what the baby looked like very much!). I've done drawings of Nattie on my webpage, which can be found in my profile. I think Nattie has more hair. :) Enjoy the next parts, everyone!


	10. The Beginning

Draco Malfoy, Seeker Of Souls

Chapter Ten

The Beginning

**~~~~~**

I dragged myself down to the dungeons that afternoon, Ginny by the hand. It was easy to get away, considering I had no friends and all. I figured everyone was mad at me because of my attack on Harry and the Snitch. And I still couldn't figure out why I had done it. It seemed so stupid now. I decided I would ask Tom. He knew a lot about everything. 

Ginny was carrying Nathaniel. She had hardly put him down since she had been revived. No one tried to take him away. He seemed to be the link to the small bit of herself that remained. Snape saw this as being positive. 

I was walking glumly, still in my Quidditch outfit. I hadn't bothered to change. The Snitch was now in my pocket and every once in awhile Ginny would reach out and try to stick her hand inside. She seemed to be fascinated with the little golden ball. I would pat her hand through my pocket fabric and smile. It always came down to Ginny and me. No one else mattered in the slightest. Not perfect Potter or the rest of my false friends. 

"Daddy!" Nathaniel chirped. "Pretty!" Ginny had managed to pull the Snitch out of my pocket and it fluttered gently in her hand. Nathaniel was poking at it and giggling when it tickled his fingers with its wings. 

I grinned and ruffled his hair. "You two stay here while I talk to Tom Riddle." I pulled off my Quidditch cloak and spread it out on the cold floor. I took Ginny's hand and pulled her down to sit. "Now don't move. I'll be right back." Ginny and Nathaniel marveled over the glowing Snitch while I headed over to the nearby dungeon bars. "Tom?"

Tom was hunched over by the fire. "Who's there?" he asked sharply. 

I stuck a hand through the bars. "It's Draco."

A smile slowly lit up his face. "Ah." He walked over and looked out at me. "What brings you here?" His eyes lit on Ginny and Nathaniel in the hallway and his eyes narrowed hungrily. "Have you brought them to me, then?"

I raised an eyebrow. "I'm just taking them for a walk."

Nathaniel got up and tottled over to us. He reached a hand up through the bars like I had. "Hi!" he said. 

Tom leaned forward and grasped his little hand. "Hello, young one." He lifted Nathaniel's face a bit. "Mmm…just like Harry Potter. You're a beautiful boy."

I made a face. Tom Riddle could be such a nutter! "Er…yes. He does look like Harry, doesn't he." I kicked at a loose stone. "Prat that he is."

Tom looked mildly interested. "Did you have a fight?"

I shrugged. "He's mad at me. Thinks I'm violent or whatnot."

Tom laughed thinly. "You boys can be so unreasonable. You're hardly violent. You're just ambitious." 

The Snitch darted away from Ginny and headed towards the dungeon. It stopped right in front of Tom. "Quidditch?" Tom asked with vague interest and reached for the Snitch. As soon as he closed his fist around it, he cried out and pulled his hand back in a hurry. A thin trickle of blood dripped from his fingers. He drew his arm back into the cell quickly and looked at the Snitch darkly. "It cut me."

"Oh…sorry then," I said. The Snitch dove into my pocket again. Ginny looked lost without it and had taken to braiding a lock of her hair. "Odd behavior. For a Snitch and all. It usually doesn't bite." I gave him a lopsided smile.

He cleared his throat. "No matter. Are you going to spring me out of here? We really should go and try to channel Salazar Slytherin again, don't you think?"

I felt excited. "Oh yes!" I looked at Ginny. She was staring at Tom. "I can't wait until she's back to her old self. I miss her."

"Yes…yes…" said Tom. He was watching her too. "Do it as soon as possible, Draco. She's not going to get any better."

I agreed. "I'll try to come and get you tonight. I want to get on with it."

"Will you be alone?"

"Yes. I'm not going to ask Harry or the others to come. I can do this all by myself."

Tom smiled. "As you wish." He flipped his cloak and headed back to the fire. 

I shrugged, feeling happy for the first time all day. I gathered Nathaniel up in my arms and coaxed Ginny up off my cloak. Who needed Harry anyway? Some of us could be perfectly happy without him, thank you very much!

*****

I hid out for the rest of the day in the Astronomy Tower with Ginny and Nathaniel, telling them stories. I only sneaked down again once to deliver Ginny to her parents who showed up that night to spend some time with her and Nathaniel. When I brought them to the room down the hall from Snape's, her parents smiled at me and hugged me as if nothing had happened. Apparently, they hadn't seen Harry that day. I bade a hasty retreat before Snape could find me. I didn't care if Snape was worried about me. I didn't care about anything. 

I spent the rest of the evening bouncing from turret to turret on the top of the tower, playing a game with the Snitch. It flew a few feet ahead of me and I gleefully hopped after it. Being alone wasn't so bad. And I really liked this Astronomy Tower. And I'd have Ginny back before long. Life was fine. Sort of. 

Late at night, I headed down to the dungeons and got Tom out of his room. We had to be very silent as we crept through Hogwarts since I didn't have Harry's invisibility cloak anymore. We were lucky we weren't caught. I figured every kid and teacher in the school would beat me up if they discovered me, and, let's face it…I'm tiny. 

Once down in the Chamber of Secrets, Tom and I knew the routine well. We both knelt down in front of the statue of Salazar Slytherin and cried out, "_Oh, great Salazar Slytherin, whose blood courses through our veins…!_" And then I was floating in front of the golden throne, Tom as Slytherin gazing down at me. "Did you find the body of the Lost?" he asked me.

"Y..Yes, Sir. I have her." I floated higher. "What do I do now?"

Slytherin smiled slowly. "You must bring her to me. Then you will take her to Harry Potter. Only then can you save her Soul."

I was grumpy. "Why Harry? What can _he_ do to help?"

"Don't question me!" he hissed. 

I frowned. Everyone seemed to be ganging up on me! "So how do I find the Hall of Lost Souls?" 

Slytherin blinked at me. "I have instilled this knowledge in Tom Riddle. Trust him completely, or else the Lost will never be complete again. Abandon those you once confided in and listen only to him. He will never lead you wrong."

I nodded. Yes, Tom would always know what to do. 

After a few more moments, I suddenly felt something on my shoulder. I turned my head, and a glowing Soul was sitting on it. Perhaps it was Ginny's! As I reached for it, the scene swirled and disappeared around me. I closed my eyes and opened them slowly again, looking up from where I was kneeling on the ground. Ginny was standing there, her hand on my shoulder. She was shaking her head slowly from side to side, her blank eyes wide with fear. Small whimpers were issuing from her throat.

I started. "Ginny! What are you doing down here?" I looked over at Tom, but he was lying on the floor, breathing hard. He hadn't come out of it yet. "How'd you get down here?" 

Ginny couldn't answer, but she clung to me. "Mmm. Mmm. Mmm," she whimpered, desperate to tell me something. 

She was distressed. "Come on, let's wake up Tom and go back up. How did you open the Chamber with no Soul? Were you that frightened to remember something like that?" I held her hand tightly. "Tom…Tom, wake up! Ginny followed us down here."

Tom stirred slightly and his eyes fluttered open. "Oh…it's over." He looked at us and smiled. "Ginny…how nice of you to join us." 

Ginny continued to shake her head at me. "Don't worry, Gin-Gin," I coaxed. "Tom will help us. He knows what to do next."

Tom came over to us and took one of Ginny's hands. Ginny let him, but immediately fell back to silence, staring straight ahead. It was as if she had turned herself off. Tom spoke. "I do indeed know what to do next." We started to walk back across the Chamber. "We must take Ginny to the Hall of Lost Souls. Just the two of us. You will catch her Soul, and I, as Slytherin, will direct you to the right one. It's as easy as that."

"No one else can come?" I asked. I kicked myself for thinking of Harry. I was supposed to be eliminating him from my life. He was bad for me. 

Tom spoke harshly. "No! We will go alone!"

I buried my hands in my pockets. "Fine enough." I felt like everyone was snapping at me all over the place. But I couldn't stay mad at Tom. I needed him too much right now. 

*****

After Tom was securely back in his cell, I bade him goodnight and headed back up to the hallway that contained the rooms of Snape and Ginny. I put Ginny back to bed, tucking her in tightly. "Now, stay in here and close your eyes. I'll never snap at you like they all snap at me. Everyone has been so mean to me today!" I felt very angry. 

Ginny blinked up at me and snuggled under her covers. Once she had closed her eyes, I locked her into the room with my wand and headed back to Snape's. Snape was dosing lightly on his bed, but a candle still burned brightly. He had been waiting for me to come back. I stood in the room and started to tug off my Quidditch pads, depositing them on the floor. I suddenly felt desperately young and lonely. Now wearing only my Quidditch sweater and pants, I climbed up on the bed next to Snape and curled up next to him. 

He slowly regained consciousness and placed a hand on my arm. "I was worried about you. Are you done being stubborn?"

I made an annoyed noise. "Everyone's being mean to me today."

Snape smiled and wrapped a strong arm around me, making me feel very safe. "I'm sorry about that. Maybe tomorrow you'll have a better day."

"Mmm." I was drifting off to sleep. "Can I stay here?"

"Yes." Snape moved a bit to blow out the candle and cover me up with the blankets before lying down next to me again. Tired as I was, I was awake long enough to see Snape glare in puzzlement at the bright light radiating from my pocket before he reached his hand in to find the Snitch. He shook his head with a small smile and closed his eyes. 

**~~~~~**


	11. Disturbing Behavior

Draco Malfoy, Seeker Of Souls

Chapter Eleven

Disturbing Behavior

**~~~~~**

I woke up the next morning with big circles under my eyes. I had had strange dreams all night and I glared at the ceiling. I had a very bad taste in my mouth and the general feeling that I had been hit by a truck. Plus, it was Monday and that meant classes. Classes with people who hated me because of my bad Quidditch match.

Snape came over and shook me. "Come on lazy one, you're going to miss breakfast. What classes do you have today besides Potions?"

"Divination and Care of Magical Creatures." Just what I needed…two classes with the Gryffindors that day.

"Move those lazy bones! You'll have a fine day."

But I refused to move. I lay there, and soon enough Snape was pulling my dead weight off the end of the bed. "I love you, Draco, but you're driving me mad! You're being most stubborn and irritating!" Apparently Snape had little patience with being my guardian. I was a difficult child and he knew it.

I grunted at him and headed into the bathroom. My day was off to a bloody brilliant start. 

Breakfast was uneventful, although I was busy giving the Gryffindors hard glares and they were just as busy giving me confused looks. Crabbe and Goyle sat next to me and eagerly stuffed their faces. "What's wrong with you? They mad at you?" asked Crabbe.

"When aren't they?" I picked at my eggs. 

"Earlier this year, you know," said Crabbe. "You liked them more than us, even. That's why we trashed your stuff."

"Oh yeah, I remember that!" Goyle started to laugh. "That was funny!"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes…funny, har har."

"Well, at least you're back with the good house," said a snotty Slytherin seventh year. "It was a bloody good Quidditch match too. You have nothing to be ashamed of. Who needs friends like the Gryffindors anyway? You took a wrong path, but you learned your lesson. Now you're back with us." The boy made a rather rude gesture towards the Gryffindor table.

"Yeah…you're right!" I held my head up high. "I wonder what I was thinking."

Crabbe and Goyle started to laugh loudly. I rolled my eyes again. "Oy." I escaped up to Divination as fast as I could, blowing right by Hermione who opened her mouth as if to talk to me.

"Git!" Ron yelled after me. I shoved aside the hurt feeling it gave me. 

I sat curled up in my armchair in Divination, trying to stay awake. I was supposed to be trying to figure out who was going to fall down the stairs after class…or was it fall in the lake?…or fall out of the sky? At any rate, I was starring into my crystal ball, seeing absolutely nothing. Goyle was starting to beat upon his. "Uh! Uh!" he grunted. 

"My dear!" cried Professor Trelawny, which almost knocked me out of my stupor. "My inner eye will not be happy if you break the ball!"

Goyle sulked and elbowed Crabbe instead. 

Meanwhile, Professor Batty leaned over me. "My dear…what do you see?" She looked at me hopefully.

"I see…" I could see myself keeling over asleep, actually. "I see…"

"Yes?" Old Trelawny seemed to like me. I reckon she thought I was pretty and mysterious. She obviously didn't get out enough to know what a terror I really was. 

"I see…Tom Riddle!" I suddenly yelled. 

The whole class jumped, and within seconds were eagerly gathered around my crystal ball. "Oooo…Draco! Where? I heard he was handsome!"

"Isn't he dead?"

"Wasn't he the guy who opened the Chamber of Secrets and captured your girlfriend, Malfoy?"

"I thought he was given a shield for service to the school!"

Apparently everyone had a different idea of who Tom Riddle was, but they all seemed eager to see him. I was staring into the ball, shaking with fear. Tom looked out at me and smiled evilly. My mind started to swirl.

Trelawny pressed a hand to my forehead and discovered that I was sweating. "He is actually Seeing!" she exclaimed in her mistiest voice. "I hope you're all paying close attention." 

"I can't see anything!" Crabbe exclaimed in disappointment. "I wanted to see the evil guy."

Goyle grunted in agreement.

I gasped out a response. "There's n..nothing there. F..False alarm." The image had faded.

The rest of the class groaned and walked away muttering their disappointment. It had been possibly the most exciting thing that had ever happened in our Divination class, since we didn't have Harry there to be practically pronounced dead for us at every class (which I found quite exciting, really). I felt bad to disappoint them, but this was hitting me too hard. I breathed deeply now that everyone else had gone back to pretending to look in his or her crystal ball. 

I stared into the depths of the ball, willing him to come back. "What do you want me to do? Why did you just appear to me? Do you have something to tell me?" I gazed into the ball until I was nearly lost in it, my eyes glazing over. I could hear Crabbe mutter something about me looking odd. 

Luckily, class ended just then and we started to clear out. I was suddenly very nervous. It was time for Potions with the Gryffindors. My head felt full of fog. I heard Tom's voice in my head. "Take your revenge, Draco. Ginny needs you to get rid of them." 

"Get rid of them," I muttered. "Get rid of them…now." 

*****

As I sat in Potions, my mind was swirling. Colors looked funny and the whole room looked a bit surreal. Sounds were louder and it made me feel sick. I focused on three faces…Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Harry's face was confused, Hermione's was worried, and Ron's was mad. Things seemed to swirl slightly and I blinked slowly. 

A voice came through the haze. "Draco? Draco?" It was Harry, although his voice sounded like it was coming through water. "Can you see me?"

"He's just staring at nothing, Professor!" Hermione's voice added. This came through so loud that I felt as if a speaker had been pressed to my ear.

"Sod off," I managed to mutter. 

Snape's voice filtered in. I recognized the word 'tired'. 

I reached for a bottle on the desk in front of me. The liquid was blue. Or green. I think it was green. Snape's voice rambled on. Potion instructions. I lifted it. It was a large bottle, and heavy. Oh, God, I was so dizzy and disoriented. I decided to get up.

Tom's voice was in my head. "Walk with the potion, Draco. Do what you must do. I am seduction. You are my vessel. You are evil!" 

"Mmm." I stood and started to walk through the rows of desks. The images were highly colorful and swirling a bit. I almost stumbled.

Snape's voice came through clearer. "Draco?"

I passed Ron's desk. He no longer looked mad. He was scared. Dead scared. "Draco, what…?"

"DO IT!!!!" The voice cut through my consciousness so hard that I started and fell. I fell forward and let the bottle fly from my arms. My eyes focused as the liquid flew from the bottle and soaked someone to the skin. Hermione. I saw her scream in agony as my head met the cold floor. I sobbed in pain.

"Stand back, all of you!" Snape bellowed. I opened my eyes painfully and witnessed him run to Hermione and lift her into his arms. She was writhing in pain, her skin burning from the potion. Snape wasted no time in running from the room with her.

Harry was on his knees next to me, lifting my head. "God, Draco, are you all right?"

"What happened?" I was confused. Confused and terrified.

"Snape asked you for an answer and you didn't respond at all. You were staring at the wall, your mouth hanging open slightly. You couldn't seem to hear or see us when we tried to get your attention. Snape said you were tired and moved on. But then you got up with that bottle of potion and started to walk. You had your eyes on Snape, like you were going to give it to him, but you tripped and it hit Hermione. Are you feeling well?"

I cleared my throat. "I'm _fine_!" I said with irritation. "I must have just been spaced out. Not enough sleep. Let me alone!" I pulled away from him. I hadn't forgotten how mad I was at him. 

Harry crossed his arms. "Fine! But you'd better hope Hermione wasn't as hurt as she sounded! I do hope she'll be okay." His voice trembled. He was frightened. 

"Madam Pomfrey can heal anything." Why did I feel no remorse? I wasn't even worried. Why wasn't I more worried? I noticed that Ron was gone. He must have followed Snape, concerned about his girlfriend. 

We all sat in silence for some time, everyone eyeing me strangely from time to time. What had _I _done? All I had done was tripped! Well, _excuse_ me! Can't I have a bad day too sometimes? Everyone has accidents. 

It wasn't long before Snape came back to the room, Ron at his side. "Attention! Miss Granger will be just fine, so everyone may go ahead to lunch now. The rest of the lesson is cancelled for today." You could sense the excitement in the air about the lack of Potions, even if Hermione had suffered for it. "But everyone will be required to write a full parchment worth of safety procedures for potion burns, due next class. I'll not have this pandemonium happen again." Everyone groaned. Snape's eyes glinted with amusement. He loved destroying high hopes for no homework. 

I was on my out of the room, eager to get away from Harry and Ron, when Snape pulled me back by one arm. "What is it?" I asked gruffly. I couldn't take much more of this. 

He looked at me seriously. "You look ill." 

"I'm not!" I wrinkled my nose. "I'm just sleepy. I tripped." 

He shook his head. "You looked strange. You looked as if you were in some kind of trance. And that trip didn't look as much like an accident as everyone thinks. It looked more like you threw that potion."

I looked at him in terror. "I didn't! I didn't, I didn't, I DIDN'T!" I stomped my foot in anger with each exclamation. 

"I want to believe you." He felt my forehead. "You're clammy. And sweating. You're sick. No wonder you tripped. I want you to go to bed."

"No! I won't! Come off it, Severus! I'm going to class!"

I broke away from him, and he didn't try to stop me. As I stormed down the halls, I was seething. "Why does everyone think I'm always up to no good!" I hollered, scaring several first year Hufflepuffs half to death. "_I am not a bad person_!" 

"Could have fooled me!" sneered a voice. Ron and Harry were standing at the end of the hall.

"Ron…" said Harry with a warning voice. "Draco, look, what happened to Hermione was an accident. Why don't you come eat lunch with us, and just forget about Potions and yesterday's Quidditch match? Then go to bed. You don't look well. I'll tell Hagrid that you're sick."  
"I'm not sick!" I sulked. "I'm going outside. I'll see you both at Hagrid's hut." I pushed past them and escaped towards the lake. 

*****

I lay curled up next to the lake. I tucked my legs right up to my chest and tried to think happy thoughts. My mind felt clear and I was starting to feel bad about Hermione. I closed my eyes and pictured the first time I had come into real contact with Ginny. I had been sprawled almost in this same place. I sighed. I missed her so much. I was also missing Nathaniel, and wished I could bring him to class, but my nurse was watching him and Ginny somewhere in the hospital wing. And I still had to wait a whole hour before I could get to them. 

Someone's shadow loomed over me. A hand stretched out. I looked up. "Hi, Harry."

Harry was grinning down at me. "Feeling any better?"

"Yes." I didn't feel like being mean to him at the moment. I took his hand and he pulled me up. I glanced at Ron who was skulking around nearby. "Hey, Ron."

"Hey." Ron smiled vaguely. "Hermione will be out of the hospital wing by dinner. She's just fine now."

"Good thing." Admittedly, it felt good to have my friends back. I slung my arms around their shoulders as we headed towards Hagrid's hut. Then I shuddered.

Harry gave me a concerned look. "Draco?"

"It's nothing." I forced a smile. 'Oh please, Tom…leave me alone!' I thought desperately. I swear I had heard his voice say my name. But what could I do? I needed him to help me get Ginny back. I needed him desperately. Everything about Tom was amazing and I couldn't live without him. I just couldn't! I just wanted to be left alone for awhile.

For most of the hour, I was left alone. But soon enough my head started to cloud. My head swam and I was dreadfully dizzy. I was supposed to be looking after a rather large puffball type creature with large eyes and a happy little mouth, but I was starting to loose my concentration. I set down the apple I had been offering it and kneeled down, hugging the soft creature. The voice radiated through my head. "Do you hear me, boy?"

I closed my eyes, my head spinning. "Yes, I hear you." I forced my eyes open and looked at the surreal, unfocused shapes around me. No one was watching me. 

"Good. Listen to me. Get rid of Harry. It will be easier that way. Get rid of him early."

"Get rid of Harry?" The words sounded foreign to me. I considered it. What would happen if Harry were killed? I would be powerful, that's what. "Okay," I whispered. I stood up and set the little animal down. It looked up at me solemnly. 

I heard a laugh cut through the buzz in my brain. "That's my good little tyrant."

My mind held one thought: Kill Harry - Tom Riddle wishes it so. I headed around the back of Hagrid's cabin to where he kept several cages where various animals were slumbering peacefully. I studied the creatures before making my final decision. I wanted to let the fire-breathing wildcat out. He was sleeping now, but if there was one thing Hagrid told us, he hated to be woken up. Thinking of this, I lifted the cage and carried it back around the hut again. The wildcat was small, but could be vicious when it was tired. As I set the cage down, it jolted slightly and the animal made an irritated noise, its eyes opening slightly. 

Setting my gaze upon Harry, I carefully opened the cage door and stood up on top of it. I pulled out my wand, stuck it up in the air, and shot out a bang as loud as a gunshot. 

The wildcat jumped a mile and shot out of the cage. It bolted towards Harry and Ron, who were right in its path, mouth smoking with fire. Poor thing. I had scared it nearly to death. But at least Harry would die. Die? What was I saying? Harry, _die_? 

Moving unsteadily, I ran right behind the cat and threw myself into Harry and Ron, knocking them out of the way. The cat leapt on me instead, trampling me to the ground.

"Ev'rybody into the 'ouse!" Hagrid was yelling. "You'll be alrigh'! Jus' get movin' there!" The class poured into the hut in terror while the wildcat ran through the midst of them, working off his terrified energy. Hagrid came back for Harry and Ron, pulling them right off their feet and practically tossing them into the house. Meanwhile, the wildcat had managed to calm itself down, and was then sitting on me, licking my cheek like an oversized kitten. It was only dangerous when it was startled, and even then it really hadn't done too much. Just knocked a bunch of people over and such.

The class eventually drifted out of the hut again and stood staring at me. I looked up cheekily from under the cat. "Hello, all."

Hagrid glowered at me. "What d'ya think you were playin' at, Malfoy!" 

Harry tugged on Hagrid's sleeve. "He's not feeling well," he whispered. "Something's wrong." 

"I didn't _mean_ to do it. I really didn't!" I insisted. Panic had struck me hard. I felt sick…so sick and so dizzy. I managed to move the cat enough to sit up. I held my head with both hands.

Tom's voice hissed through my head. "You coward! Weak little bastard!" 

I covered my ears up. "SHUT UP!" Hagrid nearly jumped a mile, as did the rest of the class. Hagrid made a motion towards me, and I jumped up, screaming. "STAY AWAY!" I ran like hell towards the Forbidden Forest, the wildcat tearing after me. 

"Wait, stop!" Hagrid bellowed and took chase. "Yeh can' go in there! You'll be lost!"

I ignored him. The trees were shimmering in front of me. I had to get to the forest. I had to hide. Ten minutes later, I was a good way into the forest, tripping on tree roots and slipping on damp leaves. I could hear Hagrid somewhere behind me, still chasing me. What would he do? Kill me? Turn me in to Dumbledore for _accidentally_ letting the wildcat out? Why was the whole world against me? It just wasn't fair.

Eventually, I managed to loose Hagrid and successfully hide myself in a large clump of brush. Normally, I would have been scared about what would happen to me after dark, but I was far too sick. Besides, I felt extra brave, what with the wildcat sitting next to me in the brush, licking my hand from time to time. I curled up in a ball, holding my head. The world was spinning so, I thought I would die before Hagrid could even get to me. The wildcat curled up next to me and I snuggled against his fur. "I love you, wildcat," I said blearily, not caring how dumb it sounded. At this point, I loved anything that didn't yell at me or chase me down like an animal.

**~~~~~**

__

Note: Hey all! Sorry if this chapter is odd…it was especially hard to write. It's really difficult to write thoughts for someone who's going a bit nutty but doesn't know it. It's just supposed to illustrate how much power Tommy Riddle has over vulnerable, love/power hungry Draco. Poor little Dracie…*sigh* Anyway, thanks for bearing with me! Love you all!

As for a question about their ages, Draco and the Dream Team are all fifteen, but as we know, dear little Draco is short. :) Thought I'd mention that just to bug him. Ginny is fourteen. Nathaniel is about the size of a one-year-old, but he has an extraordinary vocabulary for that age and he's not really aging since he's, well, deceased technically. And Sevvie is as old as all you Sevvie fans want him to be! *grin* 


	12. Tom Riddle, The Innocent

Draco Malfoy, Seeker Of Souls

Chapter Twelve

Tom Riddle, The Innocent

**~~~~~**

It was very dark when they found me. I was so fevered by that time that I could hardly think straight. I could hear voices. "Mama?" I asked piteously. I had never felt so sick.

" 'E's shiverin'. 'And me that blanket, will yeh, 'arry?" I was lifted off the cold ground. I heard the wildcat give a small yowl. 

"Please Mum, I want to go home!" I clung to whoever was holding me, who turned out to be Hagrid.

"Poor kid. 'E's out of 'is mind with the fever."

"He's stubborn!" Another voice.

"Severus?" I moaned.

"I told him to go to bed! I knew he was getting sick." Snape smoothed the hair off my forehead. "He's burning up. Let's get him back to the castle."

"Come on, Ginny," I heard Harry say.

I struggled. "What's she doing out here? She'll catch her death!"

"She followed you out here!" Harry exclaimed. "She seemed very worried."

"Hurts!" I moaned.

"Hush, Draco," said Snape. "Just rest. We'll talk about Ginny later."

"Please bring my kitty," I said childishly. I drifted off into sleep again at this point. 

*****

I tossed and turned through a fevered state for days. My dreams and my reality swum with people and voices, none of which made any sense to me. Nathaniel's voice might be in my ear one moment, and then Tom Riddle would be in my head laughing. Ginny's cool hand might be resting on my forehead, but a slap from my father would make me cry out in my sleep again. Then Snape would hold me, or Harry would read stories about wild magic from books from the library while I was conscious for short periods of time. 

I had no idea what had really happened when I finally woke up and the world didn't swim. I was very aware of how stupid I must have looked. I was propped up against a mountain of pillows in my bed in Snape's room, wrapped in various quilts with a big hot water bottle perched on the top of my head. I felt instantly grumpy about being so bundled up. "Severus! Are you trying to kill me under all these blankets!" 

Snape jumped awake from where he had fallen asleep in a chair next to my bed. "What? Bratty as always, are you?" But he obviously looked very relieved. I must have been dreadfully sick. 

Ginny was perched at the end of my bed, her fingers working a piece of string into a Cats Cradle. She wasn't looking at anything, but she had a hot water bottle on top of her head as well. I started to laugh. "What's she doing?"

Snape made an amused noise. "She put that on herself. Wants to do what you do, I figure." 

I was suddenly full of questions. "Where's Nattie? What happened in the woods that day? What happened in _school_, that day? What all did I miss?" 

Snape started to brew a cup of tea up for me. "Master Malfoy is out with Miss Granger and Mr. Potter, playing outside. They're all very worried about you, by the way. You have good friends, you know." 

"I guess I do," I said. "And how did you find me? In the woods and all?"

"Hagrid tried in vain to find you for some time, but Ginny showed up down by his cabin not long after, your nurse in tow. She said that Ginny would not stop banging at the door and shaking her head. She was fearful, so she let Ginny out and then followed in pursuit. She went right through the castle and out to Hagrid's hut, all on her own." Snape looked at her. "She knows things, Draco. I just hope we can find a way to get inside her head. She was shaking her head and making moaning noises as if she knew you were in trouble. She went into the woods with us and led us right to you. She held Harry's hand the whole time, but she seemed very agitated."

I remembered how she had been down in the Chamber of Secrets and how she knew to find me there. I gazed at her, sitting there so quietly with nothing in her eyes, and wondered what she was thinking. My resolve was stronger than ever. "And everyone's all right? I mean, with the wild cat and all?"

Snape nodded. "You were delirious. I knew you had been getting sick in Potions and I should have forced you into bed. You were sick with a fever and couldn't be held accountable for your actions. Try not to feel too bad about it. No one was hurt. And look…you made a friend out of it too." He gestured to the corner and I saw that the wild cat was curled up in front of the fire, snoozing cheerfully. I grinned. 

*****

The next day, I went to see Tom Riddle again, my little menagerie following along behind me. I went up to the bars and glared in at him. "Now look here!" The wildcat growled at him from where he was standing next to Ginny.

Tom walked over to the bars and looked at me with surprise. "Draco, what's wrong? Where have you been?"

"I've been sick, no thanks to you! I heard what you said to me in my head, all the horrible things you made me do! Making me try to kill Harry and all…and I _trusted_ you!" I was ready to open the bars and haul off on him.

Tom blinked. "Draco…I don't understand. I never told you to kill Harry." He looked at me with those innocent eyes. "I'm really sorry you were sick. But I never told you to kill Harry. I would rather you weren't so close to Harry, since I think he would lead you wrong and make you stray from your mission of finding Ginny's Soul, but I certainly don't want him dead. Not anymore. I'm not like that anymore."

I looked at Ginny, who wasn't reacting at all. I knew how much I needed Tom since he had the instructions of how to get to the Hall of Lost Souls, but I would have to be more careful in the future. If I ever heard him in my head again, I would go straight to Snape and tell him all about what was going on. I turned to find Tom looking at me. "Fine. Maybe I was just delirious and thought I heard you." 

"Probably. Were you very ill?"

"Very."

"And how is Ginny? And Nattie? And what's with the wildcat?" He looked past me to where my group had settled. Nathaniel was patting the wildcat, whom he called "Charliiiiie". Ginny was looking towards Tom with her eyes narrowed. What did she know about him?

"They're both fine. The wildcat is a new addition to my little group of followers. His name is Charlie. Nattie named him."

"I see."

"Look now, no more stalling. Are we going to go after Ginny's Soul, or not? She's not getting any better and we all miss her dreadfully." 

Tom pressed his hands together and looked towards the fire that blazed even though it was nearly summer outside. "Yes. We will go as soon as school is out. It is nearly time, is it not?"

"Yes. Another week."

"Good. The afternoon before the students leave the school, you will come to me with Ginny and we'll go. Understood?"

"Yes, I think so."

"You haven't told any of the teachers about our plans, have you?"

"No, Tom."

"Good. Keep it that way. We don't want anyone tagging along with us, trying to keep an eye on me. Salazar will not like it and may refuse to channel with me. Then we will never get Ginny's Soul back."

"I get it. Look, I'm going to take my group back upstairs. It's nearly dinner."

He smiled at me. "See you in a week, Draco. I will be waiting for you and Ginny."

As I led my crew away, Ginny slipped her hand in my pocket and pulled out my Snitch. I had taken to carrying it around with me. She held it up and stuck it in my face. I took it from her and studied it. "Yes, Ginny. Soon you'll have your Soul back. I'll Seek it for you and this time, I won't feel the need to do it alone."

**~~~~~**

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Note: Hi all! Short, rather uneventful little chapter, but I haven't been working on this story in ages! I've sort of forgotten where it's going. :( I'll see if I can't work on it a little more to keep everyone from being too disapointed. 

So Tom practically gets away with murder again! Who's side is he on anyway? Will Draco accept help from Harry? What will happen in the Hall of Lost Souls? Find out next time! Hopefully sooner than 2 or more months…*sweatdrop* 


	13. The Hall Of Lost Souls

Draco Malfoy, Seeker Of Souls

Chapter Thirteen

The Hall Of Lost Souls

**~~~~~**

I told only Harry about the trip that I was going to be making with Ginny. I knew Tom didn't want Harry along, but I figured he ought to know. "But you mustn't tell the others. I like them dearly, but this is something I have to do myself. Besides, I want to surprise Ron with his sister all better again."

"Won't you let me help?" Harry asked. "I don't trust Tom Riddle at all. He could kill you any time he wanted to."

I had considered this. "But Harry, if he wanted me dead, he could have killed me any of the times I went down to see him. Or when we were alone in the Chamber of Secrets. But he didn't. I don't think he wants to kill me. I think he really wants Ginny to get her Soul back."

Harry seemed a bit miffed about the whole Tom Riddle situation. "Fine enough…"

I turned to go. "But Harry…I want you to have something." I dug in my pocket. "This is the Snitch from the Quidditch game I lost you. I want you to have it. I've been carrying it for a long time now, and, well…I want you to keep it more than anyone else."

He looked down at the Snitch in his hand, which fluttered its wings lazily. "Draco…I…"

"Just keep it." I pursed my lips together. I hated a lot of sentimentality.

"And you're sure I can't help somehow?"

"We'll see."

********

On the very afternoon that Tom and I had decided on, I dressed Ginny in a sundress, pulled her hair into braids, and took her down to the dungeons. Once we were down there, I used my wand to spring open the bars. Tom stepped out into the dank air of the dungeons and breathed deeply of his freedom. "You have no idea how _boring_ it can get inside of that cell! I wish they would just decide what to do about me."

I pushed Ginny's arms into a sweater. "Snape isn't sure what to make of you, and I don't think Dumbledore is either. They don't want to ship you right off to Azkaban since you've done good things recently, but they certainly don't trust you, and neither do I, really."

Tom swiped his hand through the air impatiently. "Don't worry about that. I want to get Ginny's Soul back as much as you do. I miss her chatter."

Ginny gazed at him with her dead eyes. This seemed to make Tom rather uncomfortable. "Well, let's get moving, shall we?"

I took Ginny's hand. "Come on." 

We tramped up through the castle, Tom dressed in one of my extra robes. It was too small for him, but at least he fit in with the rest of the students. I didn't have an invisibility cloak with me, which made me jumpy, but no one even gave us a second glance. There were a lot of seventh years who actually looked like he did.

Once out on the grounds, I hoisted Ginny up onto my back in hopes of moving faster. I grunted slightly. I think she was growing faster than I was! "Are we taking brooms? How do we get to this magical place?"

Tom was leading us towards the Forbidden Forest. I wished with all my might that we didn't have to go in there. "We have no need for brooms. They will be supplied for you when you get there." He looked at me, his eyes gleaming. "Do you have your key?" 

"Well, yes."

"Get it out."

I shrugged and looked to the empty space to my left. I was very skeptical about this whole thing. However, I set Ginny down and fished around in my jeans for the key. Finding it, I handed it to Tom and waited. "What are you going to do with it? What can you do with no magic?"

He smiled. "I may not have much magic, but Salazar Slytherin has a great deal. You and Harry saw what the key could do in the Black School. You told me it led you right to Ginny. Well, Salazar has informed me of the instructions and your key here will take care of everything. Stand still now, right where you are."

I pressed close to the air next to me and pulled Ginny against my chest. "What are we doing?" This all seemed so silly. 

"The Hall of the Lost Souls is located underground."

My heart jumped a bit with excitement and fright. "We have to go under the earth?"

"It won't be that bad. Do hold onto Ginny tightly, won't you?" Tom took the key and started to trace a circle in the grass around us with it. To my delight, the line in the grass began to glow golden, even more brilliant than the bright sunlight that streamed through the trees. I clutched Ginny tighter, as she seemed drawn to the glow. Her hands reached for the golden line, but something seemed to hold her arms back. 

Once Tom was finished with the line, he stepped close to me and drove the key into the earth. "Oh great Salazar Slytherin! Take us down below to the beautiful Hall of Lost Souls!" I almost laughed. For as magical as the whole experience was, it also had the tendency to be very showy and a bit corny.

I stopped snorting when the earth under us gave a great jolt, and we sat down hard on our rumps. Ginny opened her mouth in a silent yelp, and her hands clutched the grass under her. As we sat, the ground inside the glowing circle started to vibrate and soon we were sinking down into the earth on our little grassy platform. I had the feeling we were being pulled into a massive open grave. I felt the air near me shiver, as if in agreement. I pulled Ginny closer to me to keep her from touching the dirt. Dirt. Graves had dirt. Brrrr. Dirt all around us. Brrrr. I felt something touch my hand and I jumped, but then I relaxed a bit

Tom looked at me. "Are you all right?"

"Yes. I just don't like the feeling of sinking into the earth very much." I looked up. The sky was nothing but a tiny blue dot now, almost drowned out by the massive walls of dirt. 

"I don't either, really, but it's the way Salazar told me to go about this."

Ginny kept reaching out to touch the dirt, but her arms were still being held back. I was grateful. I felt too spooked myself to fully look after her. She seemed to be a bit agitated. Maybe she knew what was coming up and she was looking forward to being back to normal. With Ginny, I could really only guess.

Tom Riddle spoke. "Don't be frightened, Ginny. It won't be long now." Ginny snapped her head around to look at him with those eyes of hers, and he nearly jumped a mile. "I _hate_ it when she does that!" Admittedly, Ginny did have a very spooky quality. 

At that moment, the earth beneath us jolted, and we stopped moving. We were surrounded by dirt now – I couldn't even see the sky anymore. There was infinite darkness off to our right. "What's over there?"

Tom took Ginny into his arms and hopped off our grassy elevator, pulling out the key and handing it to me. "The entrance should be down this tunnel. We'll need you to perform the _lumos_ spell."

I pulled out my wand and followed along next to Tom, eyeing the walls of earth. At least the ceiling was high so I wouldn't be so claustrophobic. I also wished that Ginny were closer to me, rather than being carried by Tom. But I knew we needed to move fast, and Ginny had a knack of wanting to go slowly and touch things. 

We traveled for miles under the ground. I had stopped being nervous and had grown quite bored. I looked to my left and rolled my eyes. I was ready to get there. "Did Salazar tell you how far it would be? We must have walked for miles."

Tom had Ginny draped over his back. She was fast asleep. "Don't complain, Draco."

I crossed my arms and pouted. Malfoys were _good_ at complaining. I thought I heard silent snickers. "Oh, shut up," I muttered. 

"What's that?"

"Nothing."

I had let my wand hand drop to my side, so I almost banged right into the large golden door before the light of my wand caught it. How very dignified, Malfoy. 

Tom looked delighted and took my wand from me. He held it up and studied the door, which loomed up into the darkness. "I think we're here."

"It's about time!" I reached up and lifted Ginny from off Tom's back. "Wake up, little sprite. We're here. We're going to get your Soul back now."

She opened her eyes blearily and slipped her hand into mine. I felt warm all over. I missed this simple gesture that she used to do all the time and now rarely did on her own. 

Tom looked at me. "Only you can work the key. It was given to you. You're the Seeker."

I smirked at him. "You don't have to be a parseltongue?" It seemed that if you weren't a parseltongue you couldn't do anything. I elbowed the air. "Shut up!" Always laughing at me!

Tom shook his head. "What are you doing? You're such a quirky kid." 

I rolled my eyes. "I didn't used to be, believe me. How quickly things change, huh?"

"Just put the key in the lock. Then we can get on with this."

I was starting to get a bit sick of Tom's constant bossing. "Yes, _Sir_." I brought out the key again and stuck it in the large lock. As I turned, the door creaked open and we were surrounded by strong golden light that flooded out into the earthy passage. As I stepped into the room, a large golden ball took a dive-bomb at my head. I ducked, pulling Ginny with me. It was a Soul, just as I had seen in the channeling sessions with Slytherin. 

I looked around at the room in awe. It was all just as I had seen. Thousands of Souls were flying around the large circular golden room, and the jeweled throne sat in the middle. Part of me had been expecting to see Salazar Slytherin seated in it, but it was empty. I had the sudden desire to run and sit in it myself. 

"Wow!" The voice came from beside me.

Tom turned his head glaring at me. "Who's there?"

I nudged the air again. "Take off the cloak."

With a swish, Harry appeared beside me, holding his invisibility cloak. Tom's eyes remained wide for a moment, but he was soon frothing with anger. "What is he doing here? I specifically told you that we would be coming here alone!"

"Well, you don't call all the shots! I've told you that I don't trust you, and I wanted Harry to come along."

Tom glared heatedly at us for a minute, before letting his face relax. "Well, no matter. Since you're here, you may as well make yourself useful. You stay here and look after Ginny. Draco and I have work to do.

Harry quirked an eyebrow, while I gazed up at the flying Souls. "But can't Harry help me catch Ginny's Soul? He's a very good Seeker. Better than me." I hated to admit it, but this was no time to be high and mighty. The most important thing was that _someone_ caught Ginny's Soul so we could get it back in her body. 

Tom closed his eyes. "I can feel Salazar Slytherin. He's calling me, trying to take me inside him." He started to rise off the floor and drift towards the throne. Harry and I watched him, waiting to see what would happen next. Ginny had her dull brown eyes focused on the Souls. They seemed to want to hover around her head, as if they were as interested in her as she was in them. I wondered which one hers could be, and I knew Harry was thinking the same thing.

After drifting across the room, Tom was settled in the throne, his dark hair blowing as if there were a breeze. He suddenly jerked his head up and gazed down at us, his eyes gleaming green slits. "Welcome, Seeker."

I didn't really know what to say. "Er…Slytherin?"

"Yes," was the reply, the voice deep. "Are you ready to search for the Soul of the Lost?"

I was determined. "Yes. I'm ready. How should I do it? They all look alike."

Tom/Slytherin settled himself more comfortably in his throne. "Take the broom. I will direct you to the correct Soul and you will Seek for it. Once you catch it, you must take it over to the Lost. She will be restored."

Harry squeezed my arm. "Good luck, Draco. I hope this is really the way to do it." 

I looked up at Slytherin and nodded slightly. "I'm ready." I headed over to the corner of the room where a golden broom sat waiting. How convenient, if I do say so myself. I stuck my hand out and commanded, "Up!" The broom jumped into my grip and I mounted it quickly, zooming off into the air in the midst of the Souls. 

Harry stood on the ground, his hands behind his back, watching me. "It's so confusing! It's like the magic key room that was hidden in Hogwarts when the Philosopher's Stone was being kept there. How will you ever tell which one hers is?"

I looked down, trying not to be hit by the Souls, who all seemed to want to be chosen. "I suppose that's where he comes in!"

Slytherin was looking up at me, a funny little grin on his face. "Do you see the large one there?"

I brushed aside one that couldn't seem to leave me alone. It had already bonked me in the nose twice. "Er…yes, I see it."

"That is the one. That one is Ginny's Soul. Seek that one."

I looked down at Harry hopelessly. "What else can you do besides try it?" he called up to me. He shrugged helplessly. "Maybe if it's not the right one, she won't accept it."

I gritted my teeth and took off after the Soul. After all, it could have been the right one, and Slytherin would know better than I would. And why would Slytherin want to lead me wrong? I had never even met him. Tom wanted Ginny to have her Soul back too. I could tell. This _had_ to be the right one. 

The Soul certainly was playful enough to be Ginny's. It dodged me left and right and tried to nudge me off the broom. I could practically hear Ginny's giggle radiating off it. "Well, let me catch you, silly girl!" I muttered. "We can play once I get you back into your body." Meanwhile, the other Souls were in hot pursuit of me, the small persistent one in the lead. I had to knock it away again as it ricocheted off my head. "I'm…oof…sorry, but you Souls are just not the ones I'm looking for!" Meanwhile, Ginny's Soul took another sharp turn and I had to execute a spin in midair to take up the chase again.

Harry hopped from one foot to the next, his hands aching to catch one of them, to help in some way. 

I finally managed to chase the Soul over in Ginny's direction. "_Harry_!" I shrieked. "_Lift her up_!" 

As I heard Slytherin's triumphant cry, Harry grabbed Ginny's arms from behind and lifted her up as high as he could, and the Soul smacked into her chest. She let out a wrenching cry and her eyes flashed. She gnashed her teeth evilly. "We've done it!" Tom hollered, as he leapt up onto his feet on the throne, coming out of his channeling. 

I proceeded to crash into the wall, as I was going so fast, and fall from my broom to roll across the floor. I looked up dizzily to the sight of Ginny thrashing, and trying to strike at Harry. I was positively mortified for a moment, before I heard Tom's angry yell. "NOOOO!" I blinked as I saw many other Souls attack Ginny and start to stick to her like toffee. They were absorbed into her body as Tom screamed in rage. "GET HER OUT OF HERE! RUN, NOW!!" 

Harry and I didn't hesitate. Something had gone terribly wrong and we needed to get her out of this cursed room. Harry lugged her out and sprawled in the earthen hallway with her, and I did the same. Tom came running out right behind us and slammed the door shut. "Oh, no! No!" He beat upon the wall with his fist. "Terribly, horribly wrong!" 

Harry and I ignored Tom. Ginny was stirring. She had landed face down on the dirt, and now she was trying to pull herself up on arms that appeared to be very weak. "Mm."

Harry and I pulled her over onto her back and looked down at her hopefully. "Ginny?" I asked, tears shimmering in my eyes.

The tired brown eyes that regarded me were puzzled. "Ginny? Who is Ginny? I am not Ginny." Her voice was weak and crackled. She looked down at her arms and legs. "I have lived many years and seen many things. This is not my body." Her eyes filled with tears. "I have lived so very long and been lost for ages and when I return to life, I do not have my own body." Sobs started to wrack her shoulders, but tears refused to fall. "But did we stop it? Did we help at all?"

Harry and I were staring at her in dumb shock. "What are you talking about, Ginny?" I asked.

"The Soul of the Murderer? Did we overpower it?" Ginny looked as if she were going to faint. I realized then that the eyes were not hers. They were the eyes of someone who was very, very old. Not those of a fourteen-year-old girl. 

"Oh, God. It's not her."

Harry was eyeing Tom, who seemed to have perked up his ears. Harry put his face right next to Ginny's and whispered, "We mustn't talk here. Keep silent for now. We'll talk later, in private."

Ginny, or what looked like Ginny, nodded and closed her eyes. "I'll carry her," said Harry. "She looks too weak to walk."

I didn't ask questions. I didn't ask a thing the whole way back. Who's Soul did Ginny have in her now? And what was the Soul of the Murderer? Tom had looked so happy, and now he was totally defeated. Something had gone wrong for him, but what was it?

Harry lifted Ginny onto the grassy elevator and helped her to settle herself. I planted the key in the same way as Tom had and sat down for the journey back to the surface. Tom climbed on too, but as soon as the platform started to rise, he slid off again. I cried out and leaned over the side to look down at him. "What are you doing?!" 

He laughed. "I'm staying here! Do you think I'm going back to that dungeon? Think again, Draco! I'll see you soon enough! Look out for Ginny for me. And Harry…? Watch your back!" Tom disappeared from view. 

I looked at Harry, who was emotionally exhausted. "Well, it seems he may want to kill you again, doesn't it."

Harry rolled his eyes. "What else is new? But he can't do anything immediately without his powers. We have to find out what's happened to Ginny. All I know is that she absorbed way too many Souls for one person. I wonder if hers made it in at all?"

"I caught it. You saw me catch it and shove it towards her chest. But she reacted so violently."

Ginny opened her eyes and lifted her head. "I have lived many years and have seen many things. That was not the Soul of this dear child…it was the Soul of the Murderer."

**~~~~~**


	14. Jemima, Shy, Sweet, And HE

Draco Malfoy, Seeker Of Souls

Chapter Fourteen

Jemima, Shy, Sweet, And HE

**~~~~~**

After Ginny had been put to bed, Harry and I were thoroughly chewed out by Snape, who was livid that we had done it alone. "And you've been trusting the aid of Tom Riddle! What did you think he was going to do? Just hand Ginny's Soul over to you on a silver platter?"

He was so angry I was afraid he was going to slap me. I shrunk back. "We didn't have anyone else we could trust! Tom has been a friend to me! We never would have found the Hall of Lost Souls if it hadn't been for him. We didn't have a choice!"

Harry quirked an eyebrow. "A _friend_? He wants to kill me again, you know. You heard him and said so yourself."

I waved this idea away. "Oh, I was just saying that. He doesn't want to kill you. He was probably just saying that to scare you. He's strange, that Tom. I shouldn't worry much. Besides…" I crossed my arms. "I've seen the way he looks at you. Believe me, he doesn't want to kill you. I think he has a _fancy_ for you."

Harry recoiled slightly. "He's _Voldemort_, you know." 

I grinned. "Voldemort needs a good snog too."

Harry blanched. "Ugh!"

Snape rolled his eyes. "All right, _children_…can we get back to the matter at hand?" He pressed a hand to his forehead as if he were in mental pain. 

Hermione had been pouring through books all day trying to find something about the so-called "Soul of the Murderer" but she had come up with nothing. "It's obvious that something went wrong down in the Hall of Lost Souls. Draco and Harry say that Tom was distraught with the wrong Souls entering Ginny. He's odd, you know? Sometimes he seems completely helpful, and sometimes I wonder if he's trying to lead us all astray." 

Snape, already in a bad mood in general, was feeling no more patience after my Voldie-Snogging comment. He pounded a hand down on the table, which made us all jump. "Miss Granger, there are a good many things about Tom Marvolo Riddle that none of us know or could hope to understand! Whether he's a misunderstood schoolboy as he plays so well, or Voldemort trying to make a comeback, we just can't know! The point is he's now out there, lord knows where, and he's potentially dangerous. I don't care if he has no powers. This channeling with Salazar Slytherin can't be a healthy thing and if he had reformed before, he certainly can't be thinking good thoughts now. He is weak, children, and easily corrupted by extreme power." Once Snape was finished with this monologue, he started to take robes out of his closet. "All of you go to your dorms and have your trunks ready to go. We will leave for my London flat on the local train tomorrow. We need to get Miss Weasley away from this school, from her parents, her siblings, from anyone with prying eyes. I believe she has information to give us. We will find a way to fix this, and we will do it without any more help from Tom Riddle and Salazar Slytherin." 

*~~~~~*

Once we had made it into London in one piece and were settled into the flat, Ginny had been showing signs of a very different personality. The girl she became next claimed her name was Jemima and she found Harry very attractive. She insisted on sitting on his lap for most of the train trip back to England, which practically killed me. And Jemima did not like Nathaniel at all, which practically killed _him._ How was I supposed to explain to such a tiny tot that, "no, you mustn't sit on Mummy's lap. She isn't really Mummy at all, you know." I wondered what information this girl Jemima could possibly have to offer us so that it was so important that she _had_ to be along in Ginny for the ride. 

Snape had decided that some of these Souls had attached themselves to her to try to save her from the mysterious Soul of the Murderer that was somewhere in there, although others, such as Jemima, may have simply wanted a body back and would be of very little use. 

I could see absolutely no use in Jemima, and I almost thought that Lavender Brown, a notorious flake, would have been more helpful under the circumstances. Ron tried to make the best of it. "I say, old chap - you can have Hermione sit on your lap if you like while Harry's looking after 'Jemima'."

Hermione promptly smacked him and I just shook my head. "Maybe she'll change back to the old woman when we get to London. I liked her a good deal better." 

*~~~~~*

The week that followed was interesting, to say the least. More and more personalities started to emerge from Ginny, so that we were often confused about who we were talking to at times. There was the old woman, the Jemima character, a sweet girl, a shy withdrawn girl, and a good-time girl who was extremely hard to handle. Snape decided that we should all take Ginny out for a day in hopes of finding a personality who might know something important. Besides, I think having all of us in the flat was stifling Snape, and he wanted us all out of there for a day. The television had been going non-stop. 

"Why don't we go to a lake?" suggested Ron. "It's warm out. We can have a picnic and go swimming. It'll be good for her."

"Oh, you just want to have fun," I teased.

"Well, it is your holidays," said Snape. "You deserve to have a little bit of fun, after all you've been through. As soon as we can learn something from these Souls, we'll be able to get her back to normal. I just wish I knew where that blasted Riddle is. It makes me uneasy to think of him running around out there somewhere."

I shrugged. "He has no real magic. He honestly doesn't." 

"How do you know?" asked Harry.

I looked away. "I just do. We're a lot alike. I can't always tell when he's lying, since most of the time he's wearing a mask of cool, but there are times when he forgets and his eyes are completely honest and good. He doesn't have any magic." 

"I hope you're right," said Snape, eyeing me carefully. I swear, the lot of them probably thought I was going to go evil at any second. I wasn't so sure myself that I wouldn't. I found it best not to mention that I thought it was Tom in my head who was prompting me to do terrible things that day I was sick, but I knew it was. I felt so much for Tom, but whatever he was playing at wasn't always good. And I was willing to bet that it was Salazar Slytherin's fault. If Tom stopped communicating with him, he would surely go back to being the kind boy who was willing to give up his Soul for us in the Black School in the spring. 

*~~~~~*

We took Ginny out that very afternoon, after packing a picnic basket, throwing on swimsuits and gathering up towels and numerous floaty toys that Snape had hidden in the depths of his closet for no apparent reason. We then took flu powder to the town nearest an inland lake and set up our afternoon camp on its shores. It was completely deserted except for us. Funny how Snape always knew exactly where to go. I decided that living with him was completely fun.

When we were settled, we all ran into the lake to splash around, except for Snape who sat stiffly under a beach umbrella, still fully dressed. He wasn't going to give into all that nonsense about lounging around in a tight fitting bathing suit. I kept a t-shirt on as well, being one to burn easily. The others just splashed into the water without a moment's hesitation. Lucky.

Ginny stayed up on the blanket with Snape. The Shy Girl's personality had emerged, and she wasn't one for romping. As I splashed at Ron, I called back to shore, "Severus! See if you can bring out the Sweet Girl. She'll come play!" 

Harry winced. "But please not Jemima!"

"Or Wild Thing," added Ron. The Good Time Girl, or Wild Thing as we affectionately called her, would flirt with anyone, regardless of whether or not you were her brother…or a girl. 

Hermione laughed as she stuffed Nathaniel's arms into bright orange floaties. "I'm with Ron. I'm spoken for, after all." 

Snape leaned towards Ginny, who was biting one of her fingers nervously. "Don't you want to go play in the water?"

She shook her head. "I might drown," she said softly. "Or _HE _might try to kill me. Or the others."

Snape raised an eyebrow. This was the most Shy had ever said at one time. "Who might try to kill you?"

But Shy had clamed up and wouldn't say another word. She just went back to biting her nails in a distracted way. 

Luckily, when Nathaniel was all packed into his floaties, he came waddling back up onto the shore singing, "Mumma! Mumma Gin!" 

Ginny had been looking a bit comatose for several minutes, which always happened when she changed personalities, but she suddenly snapped out of it and smiled brightly at Nathaniel. "Oh, look at you! You're so cute in those things!" Sweet Girl had emerged. Out of all her personalities, we liked Sweet the best. She was the most like Ginny, and we figured she would be the most helpful in the end. She kept talking about someone called SHE. Someone who would arrive soon. With all the HE's and SHE's, I had no idea who was who.

Nathaniel threw himself into her arms and kissed her cheek. "Play?" he asked.

"Alright then." She took his hand and joined us in the water. I cheerfully dunked her a couple of times before we taught Nathaniel how to swim together. For a minute it almost felt as if I had Ginny back again, although I wouldn't dare kiss her. I missed that most of all. 

Suddenly, Harry yelled out. "Hey, Sweet! I'm coming for you!"

Sweet laughed and headed towards him. "Not unless I get you first!" She splashed towards him in the water for several feet before she stopped and stood still. Harry came plummeting for her and made a grab at her to playfully dunk her, when she hopped on him and took him under first. I sat down in the water laughing hard. "She's got you, Harry!" I yelled.

Sweet and Harry resurfaced, but she had wrapped her hands around his neck. Harry was putting up a frantic struggle. It was about that time when I realized that she wasn't Sweet anymore, and she certainly wasn't playing. "Hey! NO!" I plummeted through the water and threw myself at her. I pulled her away from Harry and splashed down into the water with her as Harry struggled to breathe. He had red finger marks all around his neck. 

I looked at Ginny, my hands firmly pinning her arms to her sides. The eyes that looked up at me were definitely Sweet's. "Draco…I didn't mean to…! HE made me! HE _made_ me!" She had started to cry very hard. I found myself hugging her. 

"Don't worry, Sweet. It'll be all right." 

Snape was standing on the beach, surveying the scene. "Sweet – will you talk to us?" he asked her. 

She looked at me desperately. "Please, I'm afraid! We're trying so hard to protect this girl…but I'm so scared!" 

"We won't let it hurt you. Whatever it is, we'll protect you." I helped her out of the water and she settled herself on the blanket. We decided to eat lunch and then we would try to get some answers about this…thing…that was living in Ginny's body. 

*~~~~~*

__

Notes: Wow, I got SO many nice reviews for the last chapter! And you've all been so patient too. Thank you all so much! I'm glad you liked Harry in the invisibility cloak. I thought it would irritate Tom and we all love it when Tom is irritated, cute little muffin that he is. He's so cute like that! (Sorry, anyone who's been to see my latest drawings on my web page knows I'm on a Tom Riddle kick right now. Tee hee!) And yes, for the record, the boys are really dense. They eventually figure it all out, don't they, but it takes them awhile. And as for the Tom / Slytherin thing, who is the twisted one? 

Next Chapter: What will the Souls tell the group? Who is the person who has yet to arrive and what does she know? Who will Tom end up snogging with? Dum dum DUM! Okay, I'm pretty much joking about the snogging part. Mostly…whahahahahahahaha! Until next time, loves! 


	15. The Mystic

Draco Malfoy, Seeker Of Souls

Chapter Fifteen

The Mystic

**~~~~~**

We all sat around Sweet, who was looking positively miserable at having attacked Harry. She had a towel pulled up over her head and she was shivering slightly. Hermione leaned forward and rubbed her back comfortingly. "It's all right, Sweet. Just start slowly and take your time."

Sweet nodded and wound a piece of red hair around her finger. "I'm one of many Souls that bound together to protect this girl from HIM."

"Who exactly is 'HIM'?" asked Ron.

"It must be the Soul of the Murderer that Old Woman mentioned," guessed Hermione. 

"I think so..." said Sweet. "We don't even know exactly what HE's called, but HE's bad. That's all we know. And HE's always fighting for control. But we don't know what HE wants or who sent HIM." She took a drink of pumpkin juice and continued. "We were sent by someone. Someone who was once very powerful, but is now being controlled by another. He sent us to protect this body from the evil Soul. And we've been trying so hard, but sometimes HE breaks free and takes over. Like in the lake." Once again, she closed her eyes and tears threatened to fall.

Harry leaned forward and took her hand. "I'm not upset. I understand it wasn't you, or any of the good Souls, who tried to hurt me. Please continue."

Sweet sighed. "We also have to protect this body for another reason. Not only are we supposed to keep HIM in check, we also have to keep the body safe so SHE can come through."

"And who is 'SHE'?" I asked with great interest. Who was this Soul we hadn't met yet?

Sweet's eyes took on a look of deep reverence. "Oh yes...SHE is the greatest Soul of all time. We call HER 'The Mystic'."

A feeling of peace rushed through us all at the name, even though we didn't know who this person was or had been. But there was something reassuring in the name and I immediately felt that this person could help Ginny.

"What does she do?" asked Snape, very interested. 

Sweet took on a very funny look. "I...think...she wants to tell you herself." Her eyes shone as she looked at us. "You've been very kind to all of us, even the Souls who were a little more out of the ordinary." 

We all looked at each other, amused looks on our faces. We were all thinking of Wild Thing. 

Sweet grasped my hand. "Don't worry, Draco. The right Soul will soon be back. And please know that we wanted nothing more than to be able to protect you all from HIM...even if no one was there to protect _us_."

And with that, Ginny's eyes took on the blank look and we knew Sweet was gone. We all looked at each other. "So what happens now?" asked Ron. "Is this new person supposed to appear?"

"Be silent and watch," commanded Snape.

Ginny's eyes had shut and she was smiling peacefully. We all watched her expectantly, waiting to meet this great Soul who the other Souls lived to serve. Suddenly her eyes slid open and she regarded us all kindly. "I am the one they call The Mystic. I see both parts of the future, and the past. I have waited in the Hall of Lost Souls for this dear girl to come along and now I see that she has."

I leaned forwards and asked as respectfully as I could, "Did you know this was going to happen?"

"I foresaw it, yes. But I do not know how it is to end, for I can not see my own future." 

"Can you see Ginny's?" Ron asked hopefully.

She shook her head sadly. "I can not, for I am now a part of her. But..." she looked at me and then at Harry. "I have a story to tell."

"Most of them do," Ron muttered sarcastically, and Hermione threw him a look. 

The Mystic composed herself for a moment and then spoke, her eyes very vacant as if looking deep into the past. "Long ago, there was a story, a prediction of two boys being born in the same year, one child was of Light, the other child Dark. One child was to be good in all ways, the other one would have a love for the Dark Arts. Both boys were to be the most powerful wizards of all time, and others would come to them for help both of good and evil nature."

I was confused. "But what do these boys have to do with us?"

The Mystic smiled faintly. "It was also predicted that the most evil wizard of our times would be killed by the Child of Light. Not only would the boy save the wizarding world from destruction, but he would also possess great powers of good." 

"Could the evil wizard be Voldemort?" asked Hermione.

"And what about the boys?" added Harry. "Are they born yet? Who are they?"

The Mystic shook her head. "No one knows who the children are or even if they exist. But if they are indeed alive, you must find them. That is why I have come...you must find the Child of Light if he exists and only then can you destroy the Dark Lord."

Hermione huffed a bit. "Why do they always have to be boys? Why can't there be a powerful girl too?"

The Mystic smiled, an amused expression on her face. "We will have to wait and see what the future brings."

"Can I ask something?" asked Harry. Once The Mystic had nodded he continued. "Do you know who the other Souls are? I mean, can you tell us?"

"I can not tell you all," said The Mystic, "but I can tell you that. The Souls who have been protecting this body have all come across the Soul of the Murderer in the past. Some were related to him, others were destroyed by him. But all of them know of his evil."

"But we don't even know who he is and what he did," said Hermione. "I looked in all sorts of books and I couldn't find a mention of him anywhere."

"That is because he would not be in any book. The Soul of the Murderer is made up of all the purely evil Souls of those who hurt others physically in some way and had no remorse. There are not so many of them, but they were powerful enough to mesh and create one truly evil Soul with a lust for killing. And that is the one that now inhabits this body." 

"It's no wonder Tom Riddle was so upset about this Soul making it into Ginny! How horrible!" I exclaimed.

The Mystic looked sharply at me. "Do not be too trusting," she cautioned. "Trust can often lead to downfall."

I held her gaze for a moment before I was forced to look away. She brought up too much insecurity in me.

*~~~~~*

Later on, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and I were sitting on the boys' bed in Snape's flat. Snape was in the room that Hermione and Ginny were sharing, making sure that The Mystic was comfortable and settling in. We had been silent and brooding until Ron's irritated sigh broke the silence. He flopped over onto his back on the bed and exclaimed with irritation: "Do you get the feeling that that woman knows more than she's telling us?"

"Yes," I agreed. I was still upset about her trying to turn me against Tom, making me feel manipulated.

Hermione sat cross-legged, a book spread across her lap. "Has it ever occurred to you that maybe she's not supposed to tell us everything about our futures?"

Harry nodded. "I think Hermione's right. It may seem irritating now, but how much of your future do you really want to know? If you knew everything, you wouldn't have any excitement of discovery."

"But this is Ginny!" I argued. "Why can't she just tell us who's behind it and how to stop it, rather than telling us riddles?"

Hermione was getting fed up with us, I could tell, and I was also getting a vibe from her that said: 'these are some really stupid boys!'. "Look. Maybe you don't pay attention in Divination, but Ginny did. She's talked to me about it and although she's always thought that some of the things Trelawney made us do was stupid, she also learned a few things about _real_ Divination. She said that true Seers aren't supposed to tell people their full futures. It isn't a good idea to give people that much power over their lives, because it gives them a tendency to do stupid things that could end up changing their future or even killing them. You know, giving them the idea that they will be alive to do all these great things, so they drive recklessly and get into a horrible car accident. That sort of thing. The future is not set in stone."

I hesitated. "I _think_ I get it. You mean that The Mystic is allowed to give us clues about what we should do, but she can't actually tell us how it will turn out."

Hermione seemed pleased. "Exactly. You're listening...that's good!" 

Harry nodded. "People have to make their own decisions based on their instincts - not on what someone tells them."

I smirked. "Thanks Potter...I think I get it." Bloody hell, he could still be such a goody-goody! 

*~~~~~*

Hermione went into the girls' room at that point, and we boys threw on pajamas and crawled into bed. I decided to just give it some time and not to expect more from The Mystic than she was able to give us. Besides, we had more important things to think about, like finding this Child of Light in hopes of taking out the Dark Lord. But I wanted to find him for a different reason...I wanted to make sure that he never did anything to Tom Riddle. This was one prediction that just could not come true...and I would do anything for a friend…

*~~~~~*


	16. Nighttime Visits

I wanted to note that there is a *very* brief bit of one-sided intimacy between two boys, but it is very minor. This is generally not a slash story (although we all wonder about old Tom lol), so I wanted to make a note of this to those of you who are terribly squeamish about that kind of thing. 

Draco Malfoy, Seeker Of Souls

Chapter Sixteen

Nighttime Visits

**~~~~~**

I was having a very restless night. I tossed and turned, but Harry kept elbowing me in his sleep and Ron would snore on occasion. I felt like sticking something in his mouth, but I guess that wouldn't have been very nice. After all, it's not like he could help it.

I finally managed to curl into a ball in the middle of the bed and drift off to sleep. It seemed like moments later when I heard a voice. "Draco."

"Go away," I muttered. "It can't be morning yet."

"It's not morning. But I need to talk to you."

I sat up in a hurry. "Tom! What are you doing here?" 

Tom was there in the room with me, but yet he wasn't. It looked like Tom, yet he wasn't solid. He shimmered a bit at the edges. I imagine this was quite what he looked like to Harry when the two first met in the Chamber Of Secrets.

"I'm not really here," said Tom, strengthening my theory. "And you're not really awake. I'm in your mind, although this isn't a dream. I'm channeling with you."

I nodded, but then glared at him. "What do you think you're doing? What were you playing at, jumping off the grass elevator like that and threatening Harry? You're starting to give the others bad ideas. You're loosing all your credibility and I'm starting to doubt you too!"

Tom held his head in his hands. "I know…I'm sorry. That was the wrong thing to do. It's just that, sometimes I do things and I don't really know why. Old habits die hard." He leaned towards me a bit. "And I'm sorry about Harry too. I just continue to harbor some ill feelings towards him, is all." The image of Tom brushed a hand over sleeping Harry's forehead. "I still have to get used to the idea of being his friend, and I was mad that you brought him along. I wanted to be the one to help you." He looked at me, his eyes filled with urgency. "But please don't be upset with me? You're my only real friend, Draco."

I studied him carefully. He seemed so honest, and I could tell he wasn't lying. This was one of those times when he let the coldness falter from his eyes and his true nature shone through. "I don't know what I would do with out you," he added, focusing on the bedspread in a distracted way.

"I believe you," I said. "But why are you here?"

He looked at me, the mask of calm back in place. "I wanted to talk to you about what happened in the Hall of Lost Souls. Draco, I feel so horrible, I can't even sleep at night. I've been staying in the Hall because I didn't want to sleep in the dungeon anymore. I've also been trying to get Slytherin to tell me which Soul is really Ginny's and why he directed you to the wrong one. But he won't talk to me! I think he _wanted_ Ginny to have that Soul for some reason." 

I eyed him. "I think _someone_ wanted her to."

He looked taken aback. "Draco, it wasn't me!" His voice was choked up with emotion. "I've always cared about Ginny, and I care for you too…and even the others. Why would I want Ginny to have a Soul that wasn't hers?"

"Well, I don't know." My head was starting to hurt slightly, as if something was probing in my brain. Something that I couldn't put my finger on. It was like a message that said '_trust him, trust him_,' over and over again. "I don't think you would," I finally said. The pain let up.

Tom wiped his eyes with his hands to grind away the unshed tears. "I'm so glad you believe me. And trust me, I'll keep working down here to get to Slytherin and find out what's going on. But please come down soon…I'm afraid he might try to do something bad to me when he realizes that I'm not on his side."

I nodded, my eyes suddenly very heavy, and my head starting to hurt. "I'm not feeling too well. I need to go to sleep."

Tom leaned forward so that he was bracing his weight on his arms on either side of me. "I understand. Channeling can be very mentally trying." He smiled sweetly at me. "Sleep well, Draco. I can't thank you enough for believing me." Then to my utmost surprise, he leaned forward and just barely touched my lips with his, before melting away into nothing. Shocked, I touched my lips with my fingers. And as I sat there, wide eyed, I realized something…as nice as Tom had been, I hadn't been able to read his eyes for most of our exchange.

*~~~~~*

I jolted awake, one hand flying to my mouth. My lips were cold, almost frosty. Tom was gone. Had he really been there at all? I sat up and gasped in shock to find Harry looking at me. "Are you all right?" he asked me. "Bad dream?"

"Sort of." The whole thing seemed so real and so surreal all at the same time. "Harry? This is going to sound like a very stupid question, but…you didn't just kiss me, did you?"

Harry wrinkled his nose and then looked amused. "Draco, we know you're pretty, but that doesn't mean that we all want to kiss you. Honestly, get over yourself!" 

*~~~~~*

I didn't tell anyone about Tom's channeling session. The little voice in the back of my head told me to keep quiet about it. To move on getting back to the Hall of Lost Souls, but to shut up about Tom Riddle. I had little control over this voice, and whenever I started to think, 'Wait. Shouldn't they know?' I got a horrible headache and was forced to think of something else. 

A couple of days later, we had all sat down to breakfast when The Mystic awoke and joined us. Her presence in the doorway was enough to make us stop eating and turn to her. "Be prepared for the fulfillment of the prophecy."

There didn't seem to be anything to say to this. She obviously meant that we would soon be going to the Hall of Lost Souls. It was about time, too! But I was surprised that The Mystic wanted us to find Ginny's Soul without first locating the Child of Light. This boy seemed very important to the rescue effort. But I was glad we hadn't found him. I couldn't let anyone hurt Tom. I could get Ginny's Soul back myself. 

The Mystic sat on in one of the comfortable chairs and pressed her hands to the sides of her head, as if in pain. "The evil grows stronger within me, and within the Hall of Lost Souls. We must end it forever."

"The evil is Salazar Slytherin. I think he's doing something bad to Tom," I said. 

"How do you know?" asked Ron.

"I think the channeling with Slytherin is starting to hurt him. He seems upset."

"How do you know this?" asked Harry.

"He-" I was cut off by a sharp pain in my head. "I don't know. I just have this feeling. I know him better than all of you do." They looked at each other as if this was a bad thing. I glowered. "Tom is _fine_. He's just misunderstood. I used to be just like him, and I turned out fine!" 

The Mystic gave us no other chance to bicker. "We must first wait for the sign, but we must be ready at a moment's notice."

"What's the sign?" asked Harry.

"You will know it when it comes."

*~~~~~*

That night, I was somewhere between awake and asleep when I heard the scream in my head. "_Draco! Help me! He's going to kill me if you don't come!_"

I sat up immediately. Tom! Salazar Slytherin must have finally made his move. He was going to kill Tom if I didn't do something in a hurry. '_Get up!_' said the little voice in my head. '_Get to Hogwarts_!' 

Without thinking, I threw off the covers, yanked on my clothes, and raced to the stationary Portkey in the storage closet that was connected to the one in Snape's classroom. I grabbed the old shoe, and was whisked away to Hogwarts to help my friend.

**~~~~~**

Hey, we all knew that Tom was going to try to snog with *someone*! 


	17. Child Of Light, Child Of Dark

Draco Malfoy, Seeker Of Souls

Chapter Seventeen

Child Of Light, Child Of Dark

**~~~~~**

I stood in the dark, trying to locate the patch of ground that would sink like an elevator when I plunged the golden key into the earth. The Forbidden Forest was very near, and I kept hearing strange sounds coming from its depths. "Oh God, please let me find the elevator! I need to get out of here!" I held my glowing wand up higher and scanned the ground. "Please?"

A hand clamped down on my shoulder and I yelled out. "Whaaaa!"

Harry laughed. "My, you're jumpy."

I tried to breathe. "You'd be jumpy too if you were standing in the dark next to the Forbidden Forest."

He deadpanned. "I _am_ standing in the dark by the Forbidden Forest."

I paused. "Oh. True." I finally found the faint circle in the grass. "Finally! So what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing! I heard you get up and take the Portkey. The Mystic met me in the living room and instructed that I get dressed and that we follow you."

The Mystic herself suddenly appeared behind Harry. "You have received the sign?"

"Tom needs help!" I said. I plunged the key into the earth. "I'm going down to find him and save him from Slytherin. Do you want to come along?" I sat down on the ground next to the key.

Harry crossed his arms. "He would have been safer if he had stayed in the dungeons, or at least with us. Going into the ground all alone with the spirit of Salazar Slytherin doesn't seem like the best idea."

"Sometimes he doesn't always make the best decisions..."

"That's the understatement of the decade," muttered Harry.

"…But he knows this and he's trying hard to help us."

"We must go down now," said the Mystic, settling herself on the grass next to me. "It is time."

I reached over and took her hand, ignoring the fact she wasn't really Ginny yet. "Everything will be fine," I said. 

*~~~~~*

When Harry and I stepped into the Hall of Lost Souls with the Mystic, Tom Riddle was slumped on the throne with his eyes closed. I was surprised to see that he was still Tom, rather than Salazar Slytherin. I was afraid he might not have been himself anymore. 

I ran towards him. "Tom! Are you all right?" I clasped his hands. "Did he do anything to you?"

He opened his eyes and gave me a smile. "I'm so glad you came! I was afraid for awhile, but when Slytherin knew you were on your way, he backed off. But I was so worried." He leaned back and sighed as if he were very exhausted.

"But you are yourself now?"

"Yes. You got here just in time. I'm too exhausted to fight him off anymore."

The Mystic glared. "Step away, Draco. Don't stand too close to him."

Tom looked hurt. "He's my friend. Why are you such an evil witch? I am in danger, not Draco."

"You lie. You were in no danger."

Tom glowered for a moment before he smiled, sitting up tall in the throne. "My dear. You are wise. I have always _so_ despised Seers. They know too much, yet can say so little. And you can't hide a thing from them. I knew you were going to be horrid trouble from the moment I saw your Soul through Slytherin. You should never have been allowed to enter Ginny's body, nor should the others. Slytherin and I almost saw to it that you were not, but everything has to be so complicated. So disappointing."

Harry glared at Tom. "What do you mean?"

I looked at him too. "Yes, what do you mean by that? When you visited me you said you were so dismayed that the Soul of the Murderer had been placed in her body. You said that Slytherin was out to get you, and that it had all been his doing. You were _honest_! You nearly _cried_!" I felt terribly uneasy. Harry shot me a confused look when I mentioned Tom's visit to me.

Tom shook his head. "Oh, Draco, Draco…you're so corruptible. I really do like you. And I _was_ frightened and upset. I don't like being like this. But don't you see? Didn't she tell you the myth? Don't you understand it? You must see why I'm so scared, and why I have to be so horrid."

"About the two boys, you mean? The Child of Light and the Child of Dark?"

"Yes. Don't you see who the boys are?"

It suddenly seemed so simple. Why hadn't I thought of it before? "The one is Harry," I said matter-of-factly. "He must be the Child of Light who was supposed to bring your downfall."

Harry looked shocked. "Me? Why me?"

I shrugged. "It makes sense, doesn't it?"

Tom nodded. "Yes, Harry is one. He is the Child of Light. There were to be two children, one of light hair and complexion and one of dark. Even though you were so dark, Harry, I figured you were to be the Child of Light, since you came from such a nice family. You would be the one to defeat me. So I decided to kill you. There was another child too, of course. I killed him first, but he was the wrong one. He looked remarkably like you, Harry. Your twin, almost."

Dread was building up in my stomach. Who did we know who looked exactly like Harry? 

"You killed another child?" Harry asked, a tremor of fear in his voice.

"Yes. There was another little boy who was born before you by a little more than a year. I killed him when he was still small, thinking he would be the Child of Light who would do me in. Then the other child, the Dark Child, was born and I realized that the first boy could not have been the one. He had been born too early – the two children were supposed to be born quite close to each other. So I searched and searched and I found Harry. And I then knew what Harry would do in the future, being the good boy he was. I tried to do away with him."

I had fallen to my knees and wrapped my arms around myself. "The little boy you killed before Harry…the baby…he was..."

Tom smiled. "Nathaniel, of course. Didn't you often wonder why he looks so much like Harry? Pity I had to kill him. He was a beautiful baby. I liked him so much that I had Ginny resurrect him, as you well know." His face clouded as if that had been a very low point in his life.

"Oh my God…" My brain was so clouded with new information that I could hardly think. If only Hermione had been there, maybe she could have made some sense out of it. Why hadn't the others thought to wake her up and bring her along?

"So you do see why Harry has to die. He will kill me. As the Child of Light, that is his ambition in life – his destiny. It's not my decision to kill such a beautiful boy…it's just how it is. Meanwhile, I will take the Dark Child as my own and train him to do my bidding. I will rule the wizarding world with him, in place of the Child of Light. For the Child of Light will be dead." He glared evilly at Harry. 

I was torn. Torn by my love for Harry and my love for Tom. I had sworn I wouldn't let the Child of Light kill Tom…but now that I had figured out he was Harry, everything was different. My life was a constant battle between light and dark.

Harry crossed his arms. "You haven't been able to kill me yet. How do you plan on doing it now? We outnumber you and you have no magic."

"Ah, that's where the Soul of the Murderer comes in, dear boy. It will be your downfall." 

The Mystic trembled. "You'll never win, Voldemort! You can fight for as long and hard as you want, but you'll meet your death soon!"

Tom sprang forward from his place on the throne and grabbed Ginny by the arm. "Shut up, Soul! You can't defeat the Soul of the Murderer!" He threw her down onto the floor violently. She cried out as she slid across the floor.

"Ginny!" I yelled, and made a motion towards her, only to be held back by Harry. 

"No, stop!" Harry looked at Ginny in horror. She was twisting on the floor, screaming in agony. Every few moments a guttural snarl would fly from her throat. She was having some kind of internal battle, fighting for control of the good Souls she housed. But she did not appear to be winning. 

Tom was watching in a very unaffected way. "The Soul of the Murderer will win. Those other Souls that invaded her body will never be able to hold out."

Ginny finished the fight and lay still before an aura of dark light formed around her body and lifted her to her feet. She jerked up her head and her eyes opened slowly. And they glared with evil power. She was bursting all over with magic. The Soul of the Murderer had defeated The Mystic and the other smaller Souls we had come to know.

"I'll take those wands now, boys." Using the small bit of power he still possessed, Tom uttered the words "_Accio wands_" and they flew from our hands. This rose the anger in Harry. 

"You!" shouted Harry. "You and Slytherin have been against us from the very start! You never intended to give Ginny back her Soul!" 

Tom pretended to be surprised. "You don't say! But you are only partially correct. _I_ wanted Ginny to have that Soul. Slytherin didn't have anything to say about it. I became too mentally powerful for him ages ago. I have no physical powers, but I'm very good at twisting the mind. It's always been a strong point of mine. I remember using it on the people at the Muggle orphanage so I could get my own way." He smiled that beautiful wistful smile of his – that smile that made it so hard to hate him. "This you know well, Draco."

Harry looked at me. "What does he mean by that?"

I looked at the floor. "He's been able to get into my mind lately. He was able to visit me in my room at night too. He's good at mental control. I think he's been telling me things and giving me headaches if I disobey. I'm pretty sure he made me sick that day in class." Now that Tom was concentrating on other things, he had lost his mental hold on me momentarily, and what had been blurry before suddenly became clear. I felt so stupid for falling for all of it. For trusting him so much. Harry stared at me as if I had betrayed him before turning back to Tom, who had settled himself in the throne again.

"Draco, listen. The Soul of the Murderer is only important so I can do away with Harry. This was never about Ginny. I knew back in the Black School last year that Harry had to go. I was honestly starting to like you and Ron and Hermione, but Harry just could not stay on this earth with me. 

"At any rate, when I went back to my room after the first channeling session, I quickly learned how to do it on my own. Slytherin then spent a lot of time pointing out various Souls to me, back when I honestly wanted Ginny to have her real soul. He showed me Ginny's Soul, the Soul of The Mystic, as well as the Soul of the Murderer. As I watched that Soul, I started to formulate a plan in my head. I had lost all my powers, so I needed someone else to kill Harry, since I couldn't do it myself. By the time you came to me in the dungeon once Ginny had been returned, I had decided to plant the evil Soul in her body. I managed to overpower Slytherin and I told you to take Ginny to Harry once the Soul had been implanted in her body, so she could kill him."

I remembered Slytherin/Tom telling me this, and thought how odd it had it seemed at the time. Now it made sense.

"But then I thought that maybe I wouldn't have to put Ginny through all of this if I could just get rid of Harry early on, so I tried to get you to do it on your own by mentally goading you. But it made you very sick and you didn't succeed anyhow. I _am_ sorry, Draco, that I had to do that. But you can see that I had Ginny in mind. I never wanted her to have a violent Soul. It was all about getting rid of Harry. It was Harry or me, and I can often be selfish.

"When we traveled down to the Hall, I was furious that Harry had been brought along. I had your trust for the most part, but he didn't trust me a lick."

"With good reason!" Harry yelled.

Tom glared and cleared his throat. "_Any_way, I decided it might be better that way. The Soul of the Murderer could just kill Harry right away while we were down there. But then those Souls decided to act up and destroyed all of it. I decided I was not going back to the dungeon. I felt more powerful in the Hall of Lost Souls, and I still had a lot of mental control to exercise. Keeping you from suspecting me was no easy feat, Draco. Believe it or not, you had suspicions about me all the time, but I kept them out of your head. I felt terrible, but this plan needed to work." He sighed. "So please believe me when I say that I never meant to hurt you, or Ginny, Draco. Harry has always been my enemy and he simply must die. It's written in the stars, to quote something The Mystic – pardon me – the _late _Mystic might have said."

At the mention of Ginny, Harry and I looked over at her again. Ginny stood there, blazing with power, her hair drifting in the air up around her face. She had her head lowered and was glaring at us evilly from under her bangs. She looked even more terrible than she had in the Chamber of Secrets last year when she had been so evil. 

"Besides, once Harry is gone you're going to need someone to rule over the rest of with wizarding world with you, Draco. It may as well be me, since we're best chums and all." Tom then looked bored as he lifted and handed a long silver knife to Ginny. "Ginny. Kill him." 

He gestured towards Harry, who immediately stiffened and clenched his fists. "Ginny, listen to me. Don't do it." 

Tom gave a helpless shrug. "I _am_ sorry, Harry, but there's no way we could ever survive in this world together. Shame, too." He licked his lips in that creepy way of his. 

Ginny gnashed her teeth and sprang at Harry. He tried to push her away, but she managed to pin him to the floor with all the strength her new powerful Soul gave her. She held the knife over his face and was ready to plunge it down when Harry got an arm free and grabbed her wrist. He locked his elbow firmly and held Ginny's arm steady, inches above his face. "Draco!" he gasped.

I was kneeling on the floor several feet away, my head in my hands. It was all too much to take in at one time. And something Tom had said was plaguing me. "Tom…what do you mean _we'll_ reign over the wizard world? What does that _mean_?!" 

He rose from the throne and moved slowly towards me. "Draco. You were able to guess who the Child of Light was. But who do you think the other boy is? The boy of fair hair? The Child of Dark?" He placed a gentle hand under my chin and lifted it so he was looking into my eyes. "You, Draco. You're the other child."

"Me?" I sobbed. My moral was crashing down around me. The world swam with Tom. I was giving in to the hopelessness in my mind.

Harry's arm had started to shake as he still held the snarling Ginny. "Draco…please!" 

"You're the Child of Dark. You're the evil one – the one who loves the Dark Arts, from a family of dark wizards. You are the other boy who is to be the most powerful in the entire wizarding world. Only, Harry will not be here to steal all your glory. Aren't you tired of playing second fiddle to The Boy Who Lived? _You_ are the boy who lived, Draco! You are the Child of Darkness, the most powerful wizard in the world! It is your destiny! Rule with me and renounce the Child of Light! You belong to me and always have."

I looked at the floor and sadly muttered, "And so it has always been…" 

Tom's eyes gleamed and he smiled brilliantly. "It will all be fine. Just take my hand."

Sweat stood out on Harry's forehead. "Draco…"

I raised my eyes to Tom who was smiling that brilliant smile and holding out his hand to me. I had tried so hard to be good, just as he had, but had never really succeeded. This was the path I had to take. Just as he said, I was the Child of Dark and it was no use pretending to be good anymore. I raised my hand and let my fingertips touch Tom's.

Harry let out a strangled cry as the silver blade caught his cheek a bit. "Draco! Don't you listen to him! You're not a child of darkness! You're Draco Malfoy, our friend!"

I turned my head to look at Harry, but I gave him an evil smile. Tom had mentally swooped in on me and taken over my mind as soon as he had my hand in his. I belonged to him. I was going to rule the wizarding world on my own, with Ginny by my side to kill all who opposed me with her Murderer's Soul. 

Tom laughed, yet it was not a triumphant sound. It was as if he knew what he was doing was terribly wrong, yet he felt he had no other choice. Voldemort may have been pure evil, but Tom Riddle was not. "You're too late, Harry! He's already come over to me. Now we will see what happens to The Boy Who Lived! The boy who destroyed all my plans again and again. I was lonely! All I ever wanted was to be great. And you won't let me be great, Harry Potter, the admired, the loved! Now I will be loved, and so will Draco!" He screamed all of this at Harry, tears welling up in his eyes.

Ginny drove the knife into the floor next to Harry's head and howled in rage at missing her mark. As she tried to pull it out again, Harry knocked her off of him. "We gave you another chance to be loved, Tom! We know you were lonely as a boy, but we gave you another chance. And you went down the very same road. You're evil through and through by now!" Harry looked at me desperately. "Don't listen to him, Draco! He only pretends to be your friend. He doesn't love you, and neither will your power!"

"That's not true!" howled Tom. 

"I don't believe you, Potter." I said.

Ginny was back on her feet and she sank her teeth into Harry's arm. He screamed in pain and dodged her. She swung the knife at him, but he smacked her hand away, causing her to loose her grip on the weapon. He then took her by the arms. "Forgive me, Ginny!" He slung her hard against the wall, and she dropped heavily to the ground, unconscious, as her head hit the stone. A number of Souls drifted over to her and settled on her fallen body. 

Tom stood behind me, one hand resting on my shoulder, tears of anger and hate streaming down his cheeks. "You can bang her up all you like, but you may not escape Draco as easily. Prepare yourself to die, Harry! I only hope that you have such a lonely existence as I've had, in Hell!" 

"Power, come to me!" I commanded. Harry made a run towards me, but a blast of red magic shot out of my palm and hit him in the arm. Harry was the Child of Light. I had vowed to keep the Child of Light from hurting Tom, and I would hold to it.

Harry cried out and dropped to the floor. His hair stood up slightly. "Draco!" he gasped. "Please don't…"

I stared at my own hand for a moment, enjoying that fact that I didn't seem to need a wand anymore, before I unleashed my newfound power again, wanting to hurt this boy who was so much better than me and Tom. The intense red energy blasted through his body, making him scream. "Why not? You have people who love you. Tom and I have no one. I'm the Child of Dark. I'm nothing. I'm no one." Tears had started to creep down my cheeks as I dispatched energy blast after blast into Harry's weakening body. "Suffer, Harry. Suffer for being loved."

I observed him as he was writhing on the ground. He looked up at me, a slight trail of blood coming from his nose and ear from being shocked so many times. "Draco, please look. Please look and remember." He could hardly move from the pain, but he managed to reach into his pocket.

I raised my hand to hit him again, but something stopped me. It was a soft golden light and a fluttering of tiny wings. Harry was holding out the Snitch, a look of great hope on his face. "Remember, Draco. You gave this to me as a symbol of friendship. Please remember!" 

I stared at it. The Snitch. The very essence of my goodness. And Harry had it. He was holding my heart in his hand. I cried out and raised my hand to let out the deadly blow. Harry closed his eyes and braced himself. "_Avada Kadavra_!" Familiar green light shot out of my hand…and hit Tom Riddle. 

Tom screamed in agony and fell backwards. He landed on the steps that led up to the throne with a horrible crunch. He clutched his chest and he let out scream after scream.

I fell away from him and hit him again with the spell. "_AVADA KADAVRA!!_" 

The scream was ear splitting. Blood started to pour out of him from wounds I couldn't even see. It was as if he was coming apart right in front of my eyes. But I didn't care. "Go away forever!" I hollered and hit him with the spell over and over again. 

I finally felt Harry pulling me away from him, practically lifting me from the ground as I hollered the deadly curse hysterically. "Shhhh…Draco. That's enough!"

I let my hand fall to my side as I stared at the Dark Lord. He was definitely close to death. No doubt about it this time. I started to feel panicked as I realized what I had done. I had fatally wounded a friend…and an enemy.

Tom let out a guttural moan and he looked at me with fear, his arms wrapped around his stomach. "You…you were the one…it was you all along. Not Harry…you…" He choked up a great deal of blood, and his eyes started to roll back in his head. "I tried, Draco…when we were in the Black School, I wasn't lying. I did like you. But I've always been…easily corruptible, just like you are. I was scared to die…scared…I just wanted…friends. I thought if…I were all powerful I would have…respect." He coughed, tears spilling out of his eyes. 

I took a gasping breath and forced myself to be strong and say what I had to. "I'm sorry that you were lonely," I moved slowly closer to him. "You had a miserable childhood. I'm sorry. But it's time the world was free from Voldemort. You've caused enough misery for everyone. I hereby avenge everyone who has suffered because of you – Ginny, Sirius Black, Nattie – and especially Harry and his parents. And my father and the rest of my family, who weren't always this bad. You helped make them what they are, in turn almost creating a demon out of me. Damn you to hell, Voldemort!" I looked down at him coldly.

As his life slipped away, he was reduced to the teenage boy he once had been. "Please…I'm scared."

My face softened slightly and I moved to him. As he looked up at me, the hatred drained out of his eyes and he was just a child like me. A child who needed to know he was loved. I kneeled by him and took him in my arms, cradling his head in my lap. I held one of his hands in mine. "Don't be scared," I told him. "Give in. It's over now. It's Voldemort who is horrible, not you. And you don't have to be Voldemort anymore. Rest."

"Draco…" he coughed.

"Shh…just let go, Tom. Poor Tom. Let go."

Harry watched from a distance, an unreadable mixture of emotions on his face.

"I…I'm so sorry…" Tom reached for me, but with a violent cough his hand fell and his breath ceased. I sat there looking down at him for several minutes before I let him rest on his back and stepped away. He was dead. The Dark Lord had finally been defeated for good. The next moment, Harry had wrapped me in a hug and we were on the floor sobbing from emotion and exhaustion as Voldemort's blood pooled around us. 

I lifted my head after several minutes to look over at Tom's body again. "Harry," I said urgently. "Look!"

A green mist was seeping out of the body and slowly forming a shape above him. I recognized the personage from the statue in the Chamber of Secrets. "Who are you?" I asked, even though I had a good idea.

The misty figure bowed to us. "I am Salazar Slytherin. Thank you for releasing me from the mind of Tom Riddle. As he channeled with me, he began to take on my powers and became too strong for me to handle. My spirit is old and my magic grows weak. "

"I don't understand," I said hopelessly. "Is he really dead?"

The misty Slytherin smiled slightly. "Yes, he is dead. The Dark Lord has fallen. But why are you surprised? You are the Child of the Light. You were always the one who was to kill Voldemort, Seeker."

Harry and I were shocked. "Me? But why me? I came from such a dark family with a lot of bad history. How could I be the good one? And does that make Harry evil?"

Slytherin sat himself in the throne. "You said yourself that the Malfoys have not always been like this. And Harry is not evil. The names of the Dark Child and the Light Child were formed centuries ago when a mystic quite a lot like Ginny foresaw the two of you being born. Draco was called the Light and Harry was called the Dark because of their appearances, and the fact that they were opposites, as different as Night and Day. Voldemort assumed wrong when he decided that Light meant good –like Harry's family- and Dark meant bad –as the Malfoys were considered to be- for that is not always the case." 

We had done what the Mystic had wanted us to do. We had indeed found the Child of Light.

I looked down at Tom's body. I felt such sorrow for him – for that boyish face that looked so peaceful in death. "Slytherin…I don't understand Tom Riddle. How did he become Voldemort? Sometimes he seemed so vulnerable. I mean, honestly fearful and wanting to be good."

Slytherin gazed at the dead boy. "That child was not born evil. At sixteen, he was very good. But he was lonesome, and hungry to be noticed. He wanted love and attention, and he turned to the wrong source for it. As Mr. Potter stated, power does not give you love. He did many horrible things, but inside he was always the scared and unloved child you see before you. Do not hate him. There are many others to do that for you." 

Harry and I were silent, absorbing what Slytherin had just told us. Harry eventually cleared his throat. "But what happens now?" he asked. "Ginny still has the Soul of the Murderer in her and we have no way of getting it out. And what about the destiny that the Mystic mentioned? What happens to Draco and me now?"

"The Child of Light and the Child of Dark are said to be the most powerful wizards in the world. I do not see the two of you lording over others such as kings, but I see you doing much good in the world. You will be very powerful, but you will always use it for good, and not evil. Ginny will advise you further." 

I looked towards Ginny where she was still slumped on the floor. "Oh, no!" I ran to her and took her hand. "Will she be all right? How do we get this Soul out of her?"

Slytherin gestured to the Souls that still flew around above us. "I believe I have what you are looking for." He extended a hand towards Ginny and her body took on a golden glow. One by one, Souls were extracted from her body and took their place in the Hall again. "I was the one who had the Souls fly into her body to overpower the Soul of the Murderer when Tom Riddle took over my powers. I also took the liberty of providing her with something that she will need in the future. The Soul of the Mystic must combine with hers. That is her destiny, as yours is to become the most powerful wizards. She is to become a great Mystic and help you with your tasks."

I wrinkled my nose. "Do you mean like Trelawney?"

I think the old spirit chuckled softly. "Perhaps, although I doubt anyone could possibly be quite that misty. She will still be the Ginny you love, only she will have heightened powers of Seeing. It is the way things are, and she knows it. I have nurtured her Soul since it arrived here."

My heart leapt. "Is it here? Where is it? Can't we put it back in her body yet? I miss her so much…"

As I spoke, a small golden Soul dropped down from the others and hovered in front of me. I gasped. "It was you! It was you the whole time!" Indeed, it was the Soul that refused to leave me alone while I was busy catching the Soul of the Murderer. It was my beloved Ginny's Soul. Why couldn't I have seen?

"You were still too influenced by Tom Riddle to see," said Slytherin, apparently reading my mind. "But go now and return it to its rightful owner."

I reached out my arms lovingly to embrace the Soul. "Come to me now. Please come home!" 

The Soul flew into my arms and I held it tightly in my grasp, laughing and crying all at the same time. I moved to Ginny and gently set it on her chest. It sunk into her body and her eyes opened a moment later. They were clear and very much her own. "Draco?" A delighted smile crossed her face. "Draco!" She flung her arms around my neck and she started to laugh. I held her tightly and Harry joined us a minute later, also wrapping his arms around us. We were all whole again and finally safe. 

I turned to look at Slytherin. "Thank you, oh thank-" But he had disappeared, vanishing into nothing. Nevertheless, I smiled. He knew. I know he knew.

Harry looked towards Tom's body. "What do you think?"

"I think we should take him back with us and give him a proper funeral. He's not Voldemort anymore, but Tom Riddle, the lonely orphan. He was good when he died, and he needs a good farewell."

Harry nodded and went to lift his battered body. Ginny gazed at him sadly. "Poor Tom. He had good in him, didn't he? I know he did."

I put a hand on her shoulder. "Yes. He did have good in him." 

Then the three of us started the long trek back to our waiting lives. 

**~~~~~**


	18. The End Of One Era, And The Beginning Of...

Draco Malfoy, Seeker Of Souls

Chapter Eighteen

The End Of One Era, And The Beginning Of Another

**~~~~~**

I held Ginny's hand as our little group watched Tom Riddle's coffin being lowered into the grave. Dumbledore had managed to find the final resting place of Tom's mother, and we had him buried next to her, rather than by his father. We figured he would want it that way. The stone read: 

Thomas Marvolo Riddle

Born 19--, Died 19--

~You Are Never Alone~

Snape said it was too good for "scum like him," but I thought it was fitting. I think Dumbledore did too, even after all the horrible things he did. I remembered that Dumbledore knew what Tom was like as a boy, and would be glad to see him at peace at last.

As we walked away from the grave, a nice-looking couple in their late thirties approached us. They were trembling visibly, and they held each other's hands very tightly. Dumbledore looked at Ginny and me and nodded slightly. I nodded back and squeezed Ginny's hand. "Do we have to do this?" she asked me. "I know he's not really ours, but…I'll miss him so much."

I smiled at her. "We can still see him all the time. They live right in Hogsmeade." She lowered her head. "Ginny…we're too young to be parents. We're still just children ourselves. He needs someone who can devote all their time to him. You know that Dumbledore and Snape agree."

"I know. I'm too young to be a real mother. But I did enjoy having someone to take care of. And I love him so much. He's so much a part of us. But I still do want to be a teenager, and finish school, and go to university. It's probably for the best."

The couple approached us and smiled kindly. The man spoke first. "We're Henry and Charlotte Middleton. Professor Dumbledore contacted us and told us the rather…strange circumstances."

"Is it true? Is our baby really alive?" Tears jumped into to Mrs. Middleton's eyes, and we immediately knew we were making the right decision. Ginny and I had lots of time to have children, but these kind people didn't. They had lost their baby fifteen years ago, and had missed him dreadfully every day.

Ginny sniffled and held up Nathaniel. "This is Nattie – I mean, Nathaniel."

Mrs. Middleton gasped. "How did you know his name was Nathaniel?"

Ginny smiled. "I'm a Seer."

At this point, the parents focused on Nathaniel, and everything else stopped. It was like they were being presented with their baby again for the first time. As if he remembered, Nathaniel immediately reached out his pudgy hands and wrapped them around his real mother's neck. She rocked him back and forth, crying from years spent without him. Ginny and I stood, our hands clasped tightly, moved to the depths of our souls. Even if it was painful to give him back, this reunion was the best thing we had ever seen. 

"How can we ever thank you for bringing him back to us?" asked Mr. Middleton.

"Will we get to see him sometimes?" I asked, wanting to be sure.

"Any time at all! Really, we would be most honored if you would be his godparents."

Ginny and I smiled at each other. We had done well, and he would still be in our lives.

*~~~~~*

Later that evening, Ginny and I sat in the grass at the Burrow, while the others played Quiddich by the light of the setting sun. Ginny leaned forwards and hugged her knees. "What do you think you're going to do with yourself next year, Draco? I'm sure our adventure days are over."

"Do you see that?" I leaned back on my elbows and looked up at the sky.

She chuckled. "No. But now that Voldemort is gone, we won't have anything dangerous or exciting to do. We'll just be like regular kids. Er…at least like regular wizarding kids." 

"Won't that be nice, though? I spent my first five years wishing I had an exciting life like Harry does, and now I wish I could take it all back for a little bit of peace. Besides…" I grinned in a superior way. "I'm going to be the most powerful wizard in the world!" 

She shook her head. "Now don't you get all swelled up with power! I'm going to be your advisor, remember, and I'll keep you in line!" 

"And don't forget me, either!" Harry swooped down on his broom, clutching my redeeming snitch in his hand. "I share a half of that power you're talking about. I'm the Child Of Dark."

"And I'm the Child of Light. Who has the better title?" I stuck out my tongue.

"My title is more mysterious." Harry grinned. 

"Well, mine is more angelic and pretty, just like me."

"Oye!" Ginny rolled over onto her back, and covered her eyes with her hand.

I continued, "But at least we figured out why the Sorting Hat said the same thing to both of us. It knew we would both be great right from the start." I reached out my hand. "We'll always be friends, won't we Harry?"

He smiled and took my hand. "Always."

Ron and Hermione joined us then, and we all sat in the grass, watching the first stars add their sparkle to the sky. 

****

End

*************************************************************

Yes! This thing is DONE!! And there is not a sequel in the works, so keep in mind that I am done. lol I had a hard enough time just coughing this out. But I hope you enjoyed it. I had the battle chapter written for a long time and couldn't post it until I was finished with the Mystic chapters, which seemed very hard to write. It then went through many, MANY revisions before it finally hit your eyes, and it might even be changed more in the future. But we'll go with this version for now. Sorry for any inconstancies. I'm sure there are still more bugs to work out before it's 100% complete.

I apologize to Nathaniel fans, who are disappointed that the baby did not stay with Draco and Ginny, but before anyone sends me unreasonable flames, please keep in mind that they are very young, and not exactly ready to raise a baby into childhood. I guess I couldn't realistically see them keeping Nathaniel as they try to finish school, I couldn't see the Weasleys raising him, and I especially couldn't see Draco and Ginny with a teenager at 27! So I figured they would be the godparents. It was supposed to be _happy_ too, that this couple was given their baby back at the end, so one of Tom's major wrongs was righted. I also apologize to the Ron and Hermione fans, as those characters didn't get a great deal of exposure in this third story, but this was mostly a Draco story anyway. You knew that. :) 

Thanks so much to everyone who e-mailed me and supported me through the writing of these three stories, and to everyone who was patient with me, as it took me a long time to write this. I love you all.

Always,

Lady Grizabella

setsuna_haruka_michiru@yahoo.com

http://www.angelfire.com/mi3/ladygrizdrawings/harry_potter.html


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